In the Shancheng Prefecture Mansion, Lou Shide has been standing outside the hall respectfully, and when King Yong entered the mansion, he tended to enter the front and bowed his hand and said: "Lou Shide, who joined the army in Yuanzhou, has seen His Royal Highness King Yong." ”

Hearing Lou Shide call himself like this, Li Tong couldn't help but sigh again. Previously, Lou Shide was sent as the prime minister to replace Wei Yuanzhong and serve as a guard in Xijing, but he was affected in the Wangchengyi murder case not long after, and was directly demoted to a white body.

From the prime minister of the high-ranking political hall to the same train as the officialdom newcomer, this gap is not small. However, Lou Shide's encounter is not an exception, like Li Zhaode, who is now calling for wind and rain in the court of the divine capital, was directly sent to Hainan to pick coconuts during the Yongchang period.

During the Wu Zhou Dynasty, the political landscape has been turbulent, and it has become the norm for officials to rise and fall.

Li Zhaode and Di Renjie, who were both deposed in the position of prime minister, have returned to the current situation through a coup d'état, and even Li Yuan has now served as the commander of the Guannei Road because of his defection to King Yong. And Lou Shide, because he is far away from the political center, has not been reinstated until now, which is a problem left over from history.

"Xiao Wang was out inspecting the field, but he failed to return in time, and I ask Lou Gong to forgive me for my negligence."

Li Tong stepped forward to hold Lou Shide's wrist and said with a smile, in order to show closeness, especially for the superior to the inferior, people in this era often have to engage in some physical contact, pull small hands, pat shoulders, the so-called arms and words.

If it's just contact with women, there's no need to say that King Yong is a person who pities incense and cherishes jade, and corporal Lixian. Unfortunately, because of this work relationship, most of the people he needs to contact so much on a daily basis are men, and it is not enough to express his attention, which is also quite helpless.

He reprimanded a few more words that the state government member Zuo dared to let Lou Gong stand outside for a long time, and Lou Shide replied that he should be like this, and after a few words of greetings, he joined hands in the court. Song Bazi, who followed King Yong back to his house, was just obediently following behind at this time, not daring to compete for any performance.

"This time I went west, His Majesty the Holy Emperor told me before leaving, Dao is the talent of the Duke of Lou, and big and small things can be asked. I also kept in mind the holy order, and when I entered Xijing, I handed over the book to summon him, but Longbian was not quiet, and I couldn't sweep the couch in Chang'an City to greet him, and I had to have Lao Lou's relatives go to Longshang to see him. ”

Hearing the words of His Royal Highness King Yong, Lou Shide hurriedly avoided the table and got up, bowed goodbye to the direction of the divine capital, and after returning to the banquet, he sighed: "His Majesty the Holy Emperor has promoted his ministers to camp in the border camp, and the important things have been handed over, but the ministers have failed to fulfill their duties and live up to the grace of the saints, and they are really ashamed to be called again."

Now that the handsome and young members of the clan have been completed, His Majesty the Holy Emperor can spend his leisure years in the country without the slightest effort to work hard. Fortunately, His Royal Highness King Yong will not be despicable and abandoned, and will be taught by the king, and will be whipped by the previous sin, and will be vigilant every day, and will never dare to neglect the ministry again! ”

When Li Tong saw Lou Shide's words about the Holy Emperor, he was still extremely respectful between his eyebrows and eyes, and he was quite grateful, and he couldn't help but feel that his grandmother had not left any legacy in the country all these years.

Later generations talked about Wu Zetian, either because of his female status as an emperor and many false praises, or because of his cruel methods and moral criticism. But Li Tong is in this era, and his feelings are more profound, and the people of the time do not have too much demonized interpretation of Wu Zetian, unless there is really a sharp conflict of positions, it is basically based on positive evaluations.

Take Lou Shide in front of him as an example, he has been in the camp for a long time, there is no strong reinforcement in the court, and he is not from a famous family, if it is not for Wu Zetian's promotion, it is almost impossible to enter the court, so he naturally has a sense of gratitude to Wu Zetian in his heart.

There are not many people in such a situation as Lou Shide, although Wu Zetian's purpose in promoting these people is not pure, but objectively it does greatly enhance the inclusiveness of the central court.

In this regard, even the world of Zhenguan, which has always been known for its political openness, cannot be compared. Zhenguan was in the first dynasty, mainly Tang Taizong and his entrepreneurial partners were engaged in it, but in terms of talent selection, there was not much achievement, and there were very few famous ministers like Ma Zhou who rose from commoners.

During the conversation, Li Tong introduced Song Bazi, who was accompanied by the table.

Lou Shide only bowed his head slightly to show politeness, he had heard about Song Bazi's feats and deeds in the few days he stayed in Chang'an, and he sighed slightly in his heart, but it was only there. A little politeness is purely to give King Yong face, otherwise he wouldn't even bother to pay attention to it.

This is the case in this era, although the merchants have a large amount of social resources, it is difficult to gain the recognition of the mainstream society. Even if Datang is open-minded and tolerant, and does not reject businessmen like other eras, it just does not exclude, and it cannot be promoted.

After some polite pleasantries, the atmosphere was slightly cold.

Before coming to Shancheng, Lou Shide was full of advice and wanted to persuade His Royal Highness King Yong, but after he really came to Shancheng, he found that the situation of King Yong's operation was much better than he imagined, at least Lou Shide thought that he did not have such a strategy and ability as King Yong, and if he changed him, it would be difficult to do this, so there was no need to say anything more.

As for Li Tong, he is simply a little unsure of Lou Shide's true intentions. It stands to reason that Lou Shide set off with the Hequ Battle Report, but he arrived in Longshang a full month later than the Hequ Battle Report, and it was obvious that he was still a little hesitant to take refuge in himself.

It's always hard for him to ask directly if he wants to mess with Lao Tzu, if the other party just comes to see and leaves, it will be a little embarrassing.

After a moment of silence, Li Tong raised his hand and instructed the adjutant: "Lou Gong is coming from afar, he must be hungry, thirsty and tired, hurry up and prepare a meal." ”

The wine table culture has a long history, the more people who have a bad relationship and have communication needs, after a few glasses of wine, they can say what they are usually embarrassed to say without any obstacles, and even burn yellow paper to worship brothers.

After Lou Shide heard this, a smile also appeared on his face, and he smacked his mouth and said with a smile: "Longyou Shiwei is indeed often missed. ”

Hearing Lou Shide say this, Li Tong was also happy, remembering that this guy is also a foodie, and he is still teaching the post guards how to deceive and hide from the post house in the post house.

Soon, the state's carefully prepared meals were being served one after another. Lou Shide said that he missed Longyou's taste, but when he actually started eating, he didn't eat much.

Li Tong didn't notice this, he was still thinking about how to attack Lou Shide, so that the other party could become his own person with dignity and obedience. It must be known that he will have some layout and planning for Longyou in the future, and Lou Shide can play a very important role in it.

But Song Bazi, who was as careful as a hair, noticed this, and after a few dishes were passed on, he asked: "Lou Gong spares the amount, is the meal he treats not appetizing, or is he leaving the amount for another meal?" ”

After hearing this, Lou Shide stopped shaking his head, and raised his eyes to look at His Royal Highness King Yongwang in the hall, and said after a moment of silence: "The people take food as the sky, and the people are used for all things, only fine food and good food cannot be called luxury." The humble office invites the hall to support the stove, and temporarily dedicates it to His Royal Highness. ”

"Lou Gong wants to take care of the meal himself?"

Li Tong didn't care much at first, but after hearing Song Bazi's exclamation, he also glanced at Lou Shide in surprise, and said with some uncertainty: "This is not necessary, right?" ”

At this time, the state government assistant standing on the side of the hall couldn't help but speak: "Lou Gong still eats, and in previous years, he often used to eat and nourish the state capital in person. ”

"A little quirk, please forgive your Highness."

Lou Shide was not ashamed of this, but said to King Yong.

Li Tong was really a little surprised at this time, although Mencius's doctrine has not yet entered the house, and there is no such thing as a gentleman who cooks far away, but he also rarely sees a scholar who is willing to make himself full of oil smoke.

Lou Shide's fetish also made him more sure that this old gentleman was a real foodie. If you don't play with it, you can't call it lustful, you can't treat cooking, and you can't call it a real foodie.

Seeing that His Royal Highness King Yong nodded in approval, the state officials began to set up the stove and prepare the food skillfully. Lou Shide confessed, rolled up his robe and went down the hall. Seeing this, Li Tong and Song Bazi also moved down to the hall to appreciate Lou Shide's cooking skills.

Lou Shide held a sharp knife in his hand, pointed to the raw sheep that had been peeled and washed by the assistants, and said to the two: "This sheep has a fat neck and short legs, a shallow belly and a long tail, no tendons and horns, little milk hair, and everything is useless, so it is called a lazy sheep." But the fat and meat are tender, not firewood and tough, and a little roasting is food for food. ”

After commenting on the food, he instructed the officials to start the stove and light the fire, and while adding firewood himself, he said to King Yong: "The two noble families in Beijing, the kitchen does not like firewood, and they are tired of its smoke." But the fierceness of the firewood, but not the charcoal fire can reach, the meal is the first treatment, the guests are hungry and thirsty, only eat quickly, hungry, all the flavors can be called precious, after the wine is hot and full, the stove fire turns warm, and the bones are smoked, so that it is more convenient to break the bones and suck the marrow......"

While explaining, Lou Shide skillfully put the raw sheep on the stove that had been lit, and the flames licked the surface of the mutton wrapped in fat, and suddenly there was a clattering sound, and a scorching smell spread.

"What kind of condiments does Lou Gong need, just call it."

King Yong was watching with his arms on the side, but Song Bazi didn't dare to do this, so he was busy and took the initiative to come to the side of the stove to give Lou Shide a hand.

Lou Shide skillfully flipped the mutton on the stove, and did not take much condiment, just dipped the dissolved brine with a sharp knife, and kept cutting small cuts on the surface of the charred mutton.

After a few dozen breaths, he began to quickly cut the mutton that had been cooked on the surface, and beckoned to King Yong a little while busy: "Please come in and eat." ”

Li Tong felt that it was new, so he went up and directly used a knife to pick up the barbecue meat cut by Lou Shide and put it in his mouth, which was indeed tender and delicious, especially thinking that this was roasted by the prime minister himself to eat, and there was a sense of satisfaction other than food.

At the same time, he couldn't help but have a strange feeling in his heart, the other traversers were all cooking by themselves and then shocking and killing those natives, and when they came to themselves, the situation seemed to be a little different.

So the two of them sat by the stove and ate the sheep roasted by Lou Shide himself, and served it with wine, which was indeed appetizing. As for Song Bazi, although King Yong signaled several times that he didn't have to be stubborn, he just shook his head and waved his hand and didn't dare to overstep it, while concentrating on serving condiments, he turned his head and swallowed a mouthful of saliva from time to time.

Li Tong had already eaten a lot just now, and the amount of food he ate was not large at this time, so he stopped after eating some. As for Lou Shide, he ate more than two catties of mutton while roasting, and cut off all the meat on the sheep rack and distributed it to everyone present, and a pair of sheep skeletons continued to bake on the stove that had been warmed.

After the meal, after Lou Shide turned his hand back, he bowed directly to the feet of King Yong, and said in a deep voice: "If the personnel is far-fetched, His Royal Highness has done everything in the past few seconds, which can be described as a fierce fire." Cutting meat and sucking bones still needs to be done slowly. If Your Highness is not tired of humble duties and long teeth, you are willing to walk under the door and donate to the work of dogs and horses, not only for you! ”

When Li Tong heard this, he immediately smiled, bent down to support Lou Shide's arms, and pointed to the remaining meat on the plate, and said with a smile: "If it weren't for Lou Gong's skills, how could he enjoy this meal?" After that, if you have to stay together for a long time, do your best, and enjoy your food, it is a fast life! ”