Liyang Xinke Scholars and post-graduates are often not granted official positions immediately. Before they are formally replaced by officials, they are sent to the Six Departments of Jiuqing and other yamen to practice political affairs. On the basis of the Minister of the Ministry of War's inspection of the border, it went a step further and created a precedent for officials of the Ministry of War to observe the border area. This was originally one of the proposals made by King Jing'an Zhao Xun in his previous policies. It can be seen that today's emperor of the Zhao family has a particularly fond eye for this loyal young vassal king in Jingnan. This time, the Ministry of War, which attracted the attention of the ruling and opposition parties, came out of Beijing to border the border, and the officials of the Ministry of War were not of high rank. Among them, the driver of the car, Wai Lang Kong Zhenrong, Gao Tingshu, the head of the Wu Xuan Qing Officials Department, and Yan Chiji, the head of the Armory Department, were in the official circles of the capital. They are all typical young faces with "no hair on their mouths". There are two reasons why the big bosses in the court are interested. Xu Gong, the Minister of the Ministry of War, echoed the Eastern Front in the local area, but the northwest frontier of the desert, the North Liang Road!
The second reason is that the officials carefully selected by the Ministry of War are extremely intriguing. Among them, Gao Tingshu, the second in the list of new subjects, and Wu Congxian and others in the same year in the officialdom were able to rise to fame in Tai'an City. Obviously, the status of the top three is not enough. That Jin Sanlang spared no effort to promote the flames and sing poems, and they would lose their color in observing politics in at least two or three months. In the Zhaojiaweng, where there are many high-ranking officials in the yamen, the Yonghui reign lasted for more than 20 years. , there is really no shortage of No. 2 Tanhualang, and even more Jinshi. Who in the world doesn't know that Jin Lanting, who has been kind to Gao Tingshu for knowing, meeting and supporting him, treats the father and son of the Xu family in Beiliang as enemies all these years? In addition, Yan Chiji and Kong Zhenrong's accompanying tour is even more interesting. Because of a woman in the Yan family who entered Beijing, Yan Jiexi and Yan Chiji's father and son took advantage of the opportunity to become relatives of the emperor. The ambitious fourth prince was able to easily break through the unshakable shackles of the eldest son in the clan inheritance with an indisputable attitude, and finally made his way to the south in a calm and smooth manner. The head of the state, Yan Jiexi, was previously a scholar of Dongyuan Pavilion, and Yan Chiji, who was often bullied by the dandies in Tai'an City when he first entered Beijing, has now become the current uncle of the state. Before he ascended the throne, he got along with this gentle and elegant brother-in-law, and they were always like brothers. Otherwise, Yan Chiji, who was born as a Jinshi not long ago, could have served as the head of the arsenal department of the Ministry of War, and how could he personally meet the Minister of the Ministry of Officials on the day of his report? Sending off, or even letting Lu Shangshu of the Ministry of War greet him personally? And Kong Zhenrong was also born in Beiliang. His father Kong Dahe was an official in Beijing because of his meritorious service and joined the second prince. This Kong Wuchi and Yan Chiji were brothers who could wear a pair of trousers with the current king of Beiliang when they were young. Including Li Hanlin, who was the only one who stayed in Beiliang, the four of them had visited seven or eighty brothels in Beiliang, even if there were not one hundred brothels.
In this way, there will be a lot of chewing, the four brothers, not to mention Xu Fengnian, the hereditary and irreplaceable frontier vassal king, even if Li Hanlin has an old man who has been an official to Liyang and is the second-rank economic envoy, now he is What official position? The little crossbowman is just too long! Moreover, Li Gongde, who is recognized as a skilled official, has only been a big official in the frontier for a few days, and his ass has not yet warmed up the chair, so he was quickly squeezed out by an outsider like Song Dongming. On the other hand, in the capital, not to mention Yan Chiji, who has a detached status, Kong Zhenrong is already a hot and powerful figure in the Ministry of War. Calling them brothers and sisters, entertaining them carefully, maybe the latter is not willing to appreciate it.
Since it is the frontier of Guanzheng, of course they go to Youzhou instead of Lingzhou, which has the reputation of Xiaojiangnan. Not long after they entered the country, they got the amazing news that the Beimang army was advancing on three fronts. Going around the border of the prefecture will give the imperial court an explanation, and then immediately set off for Jibei to say hello to Yuan Tingshan, who has recently risen, and then to Liangliao, where he met Gu Jiantang of the Dazhu Kingdom and Xu Gong, the right servant of the Ministry of War. The journey was supposed to be safe and sound, without wind or rain, but it was such a tricky situation to enter the eastern part of Youzhou without thinking about it. God knows if that barbarian from the Northwest surnamed Xu will feel that he has been swept away by the court, and he will be vicious and angry. Just let the Beiliang frontier army dress up as Beimang rangers, and take them, the military officials who watch the government, in one pot
Among the government officials, a few old people who had seen the dangers of the officialdom hurriedly stopped at a border post, and they couldn't come up with a perfect solution after spending the whole night. Hulukou in Youzhou, I still have to go to Hutou City, the most important pass in the northwest of Liangzhou, to take a look. The old people who are afraid of the severe cold are so scared that their lips are purple. The juniors in the officialdom who have a good impression in their hearts, just wait until they return to Beijing to sit through the cold bench of the Ministry of War. Compared with Gao Tingshu, who is not afraid of tigers as a newborn calf, Yan Chiji, the uncle of Xiaoguo who treats others with gentleness and kindness along the way, is much more amiable in the eyes of those veterans in the officialdom. In the end, it was Yan Chiji who came up with an idea, which quickly made the old man think more and more "in response to the situation". Uncle Guo proposed not to go to Youzhou, nor to Liangzhou North Line, but to go directly to Beiliang Palace and Qingliang Mountain . Langzhong Liang Shihu, who presided over the specific affairs of Fang Qingli's department, pinched his beard, thought about it, squinted his eyes and said with a smile, "good".
Mr. Liang is more and more pleasing to this young uncle of the country. It is good to go to the famous Qingliang Mountain. No matter how rebellious the King of Beiliang is, even if he dared to send troops to resist the imperial decree, it will not be so Are you so bold as to kill people in your own palace? Besides, with Yan Chiji Kong Zhenrong and the Northern Liang King's friendship, even if there is not much left, going to the Beiliang King's Mansion should not be a grand banquet, not to mention who has never heard of Chaohu Nawan? The spectacular sight of carp rolling? There are so many Beijing officials in Tai'an City, how many of them have the opportunity to see it with their own eyes? Gao Tingshu, who looked high-spirited after leaving Beijing, hesitated for a moment, but finally he didn't say any more outrageous words. It seems that Mr. Yan's status as the uncle of the country is indeed not something that he, the second-best man with unstable foundation, can provoke.
When the political observation team stopped to rest at the inn on the border of Liangzhou, Kong Zhenrong, who had returned to his hometown for the first time since entering Beijing, found Yan Chiji, who was reading sage books at night by burning lights, and sat down without saying a word. After several years of polishing, Yan Chiji has gradually faded away the immature atmosphere of foreigners entering Beijing. Moreover, he has a poetic and literary spirit in his belly. He was also a little more assertive, which made the old man who was a bachelor of the Great Palace very pleased. Kong Zhenrong didn't speak, and Yan Chiji didn't take the initiative to speak. There were only the sound of his flipping the book and the occasional crackling of the lamp wick in the room. Could it be Kong Wuchi who couldn't hold his breath, and asked in a low voice, "Yan Chiji, what do you mean by Feng?" Will brother be angry that he won't see us?"
Yan Chiji continued to read the book, but he didn't seem too sure, and said softly, "I won't."
Kong Zhenrong, who had just shaved off his full beard this morning, stroked his stubble, sighed and said sadly: "You're okay, anyway, I spent a few years with Hanlin and Brother Feng for a few years, but I've been with you for a few years. I ran away to the capital city. Last time Feng Geer went to the capital city, my father was so stupid that he tricked me to go to the south of Gyeonggi early, but he didn’t meet him in the end. Yan Chiji, you should read more, you said Feng Geer really can’t Do you think I'm disrespectful? If I knew it was such a disturbing situation, even if I ran away from home back then, I shouldn't have gone to the capital with my father."
Yan Chiji didn't open the book any more, but stopped on the page in front of him, silent.
Kong Zhenrong asked: "Why don't you go to the Ministry of Officials or the Ministry of Rites, what do you come to the Ministry of War for? Don't you hate fighting and bloodshed since you were young?"
Yan Chiji said with emotion: "It's because I hate it that I went to the Ministry of War."
Kong Zhenrong rolled his eyes and said: "It's just that you are a lot of scholars, and you don't directly explain what you say. Others take off their pants and fart, and you are wearing pants to shit."
Yan Chiji's eyes suddenly became sharper, he looked out of the window, and said in a low voice: "After you go back, tell Uncle Kong that you should stop writing letters with the King of Tang in Jiangnan Road."
Seeing Kong Zhenrong's confused appearance, Yan Chiji burst out almost word by word from between his teeth, "Especially the matter that the king of Tang sent people to Beijing to present the auspicious white deer, so your father must not interfere with it." and!"
Kong Zhenrong wondered, "Isn't this a good thing?"
Yan Chiji sneered and said: "Don't worry about anything, just tell your father that it was my unintentional words after a family banquet. Your father knows the importance and the harm."
Kong Zhenrong, who used to protect Yan Chiji from the wind and rain, let out a oh, looked at Yan Chiji's face, and said softly, "Yan Chiji, I don't seem to know you anymore."
Yan Chiji's originally tense face softened a bit, picked up the books on the table again, and almost said to himself: "I don't want to either."
The next trip to Liangzhou made the hearts of the old people, including Mr. Zhong Liang, the secretary of the Qing Dynasty official, slowly let go of the heart that was already hanging in their throats. Not only did the military forces from various places in Liangzhou open the door for them, but a newly appointed captain last year personally led the army to escort them to the outside of the city. It's enough to give the Ministry of War the face of observing politics. Although Lang Zhong Liang Dendrobium was not born in the army, as a veteran of Zhanglu, the Ministry of War, his vision is not bad. He knows the autumn from a leaf, and he can measure the strength of the army in Beiliang, which is far better than the previous places such as Gyeonggi and Jizhou. In the bottom of my heart, I naturally began to be afraid of the 300,000 frontier cavalry of the Xu family, who was the most powerful in the world, and I was quite emotional. It turns out that the Qingqi in Beiliang Road is already so majestic.
When the government-observing team, which was viewed as a monkey by the people of Liangzhou, came to the gate of the palace at the foot of Qingliang Mountain, and when they saw the pair of stone lions as tall as two people with their own eyes, even the well-informed old men of the Ministry of War looked at each other and agreed. He took a deep breath, what a grandeur! The expressions of Yan Chiji and Kong Zhenrong were a bit complicated, while Gao Tingshu snorted coldly, which made Liang Shihu cough heavily, for fear of being heard by the people in the Northern Liang Palace. In Liyang, there has always been a saying that local officials are three feet lower than Beijing officials, which means that the official authority of Beijing officials is naturally three ranks higher than that of local officials, let alone those who are arrogant to Beijing officials The officials of the official department are gone, and the military department has lost its backbone. Although the limelight has begun to be overwhelmed by the official department led by the new Liyang "Heavenly Official" Yin Maochun, the majesty is still there. Chief Fang Si is also a self-proclaimed scholar, so when he took the lead and walked into the side door of the Beiliang Palace, the kind of Beijing official airs with fluttering sleeves when walking was still full of enthusiasm. I couldn't help but glanced a few more times.
Xu Fengnian, king of Beiliang, did not show up at all. He was the guest of Song Dongming, the deputy envoy of economic strategy of Beiliang Road. He said that the prince was in charge of the military affairs at the border, so he really couldn't get away. Liang Dendrobium and the old foxes wished that Rentu's son would ignore them and his group, and said a lot of pretty words about the flowers and flowers, anyway, they don't need money, and complimented the Northern Liang King. Northwest Gate, etc. Song Dongming, the self-proclaimed vice-envoy of economic strategy of Beiliang, smiled and accepted it for the king of Beiliang, probably because the morale of the Central Plains name on the vice-envoy was really refreshing, and Liang Shihu and others immediately felt much better. , and some sincerely regret that Song Dongming is really a pearl covered in dust. It would be pleasing to the eye if he went to the temple in the capital to stand side by side with the current court officials.
After Song Dongming received the wind and dust from the officials of the Ministry of War, he unexpectedly did not have any attempt to fool anyone. He put down the chopsticks on the dining table, and then got up and led everyone to his office located on the mountainside of Qingliang Mountain. Sensitive military affairs, including the appointment of the school lieutenant and the promotion and changes of the frontier army, were all revealed together. The Ministry of War’s observation of politics was a bit like hunting for the sky, but Liang Shihu dared to think so when he went to Jizhou later. How could he dare to be so big in Beiliang Road? He thought they would be able to eat a few full meals and drink those pots of green ants Fortunately for the wine, they were even prepared to be left to dry with cold faces. The old people including Liang Shihu insisted on listening and not talking, but Gao Tingshu didn't pay attention to it. He asked several times about the distribution of troops in Beiliang and some specific military affairs on the border. Skipping it, Liang Shihu was originally happy that Gao Tingshu, a stunned young man who didn't know how to live or die, would be an early bird. If he could really find out the truth, it would be a icing on the cake after all, but after repeated questioning by the young principal, Song Dongming squinted his eyes and lowered his head to drink tea. Liang Shihu couldn't sit still anymore. He glanced sideways at the door in fear, afraid that if the deputy envoy of Jinglue dropped the cup, five hundred knives and axes would rush out and push them down to the ground. Crack all chopped up and feed the dog. Dendrobium Liang hurriedly smoothed things over, saying that he had heard for a long time that the red carp jumping in Chaohu Lake was the most beautiful scenery in the world, and he wanted to bring his colleagues to see it. Song Dongming didn't get up this time, but just smiled and asked his subordinates to lead the military officials to listen to Chaohu.
Then Song Dongming came to the top of the mountain alone, looked at Xu Fengnian who was rushing back to the palace, and asked, "Since you are all back, why don't you talk about the old days?"
Xu Fengnian shook his head, looked at Chaohu Lake, and said, "Mr. Song, accompany me to the back of the mountain. Let's go and engrave the two hundred and ninety-six names on the stele."
Song Dongming nodded.
The deputy envoy of Jinglue who was walking with Xu Fengnian on the back mountain obviously held his breath for a long time, and finally couldn't help but angrily said: "What a rich and honored man who doesn't return home like a brocade dress at night! But we these two hundred and ninety-six people from Beiliang?"
Xu Fengnian said calmly: "We in Beiliang can just remember it by ourselves."