When Guo Xu entered the garden of the back house of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Lu Zhongtian was teasing a canary hanging under the corridor with a bamboo stick next to a small pavilion in a long corridor. A steward bowed over and held a tray with a dozen items in it. Those are special tools used to raise birds, some are fed, some are fed, some are fed, some are groomed, some are cleaned of bird droppings, and some are used to grind their beaks. For more than 100 years, the Great Zhou Shengping has reached its peak in all aspects, and naturally there are some strange aspects. For example, raising birds and pets, wealthy families have derived a set of training methods and practices, and they are happy to practice them to show their identity and status and so-called taste. In fact, they are all derivatives of idleness, boredom, poverty, luxury, and desire.

Guo Xu walked along the corridor alone, and the winter sun shone on his face, which was very dazzling. But at the same time, it is also warm. The garden of the back house of the Prime Minister's Mansion has obviously been specially designed, and there is no cold wind penetrating in such a cold winter month, and it is very warm. In comparison, the palaces in his palace are all cold, which makes people feel cold in their hearts.

Lu Zhongtian saw Guo Xu, but he didn't stop the food stick in his hand, still teasing the birds in the cage. Guo Xu was furious in his heart, as the emperor of the Great Zhou, he came to see the courtiers in person, but as a result, he Lu Zhongtian not only did not greet him, but even turned a blind eye to him. He doesn't have the emperor himself in his eyes at all, he doesn't care about etiquette at all, and he doesn't even want to act.

But Guo Xu could only endure this breath, because the purpose of his coming here today was to ask for help and apologize. If he can't bear it, he can't be angry about these things, it won't do him any good.

"Grandfather, I've come to see you. I heard that my grandfather was sick, and I was really worried. So today I came to visit my grandfather in person, and I don't know if my grandfather is better? Guo Xu said softly.

Lu Zhongtian turned his head, put the food skewer into the tray in the steward's hand, picked up a cloth towel and wiped his hands, then bowed down to Guo Xu and said in a deep voice: "The old minister has seen the emperor, thank you for your concern, the old minister just made an old problem with asthma." It's an old disease, and it happens in the winter. It's good that it's not good, but it's not good to die. ”

Guo Xu stepped forward slowly and said: "That's good, old diseases are difficult to treat, and it is still mainly based on conditioning." But now that the situation is in crisis, we have to come up with an idea about whether my grandfather can go to the court to participate in the deliberations. Both the Jurchens and the Liao people came to the door. ”

Lu Zhongtian smiled slightly, turned his head to look at the canary in the cage under the porch, the canary had just eaten and drunk enough water, and was now jumping up and down on the crossbar in the cage, making a pleasant call.

"Your Majesty!" Lu Zhongtian spoke in a dumb voice: "The emperor looks at how cheerful the caged birds are. The old man liked it, it was so good. You see, the old man raised this bird, carefully fed it with water, groomed its feathers, and cut its claws and nails. If it is sick, the old man will personally boil medicine for it. The old man spent a lot of time and effort on it, for what? It is to hear it sing in front of the old man, so that the old man knows its gratitude. In this way, it is also happy, and the old man has not worked in vain, and the old man is also happy. ”

Guo Xu was silent, he didn't know why Lu Zhongtian was talking about this bird, Guo Xu couldn't wait to go up and tear off the cage and put it on the ground

It took him to stomp his feet and break the belly of the noisy bird, but he obviously couldn't do that. There was only silence.

"However, if the old man serves it wholeheartedly, and it doesn't sing to the old man at all, and doesn't please the old man, what do you say the old man wants? It's just a bird, and the old man can't be guilty of pleasing a bird. The old man will not give it food, if he does not give it food, he will die. Even if it escapes the cage on its own, it will still die. Because it is a caged bird after all, it is used to being fed, it can't stand the wind, frost, rain and snow outside, it can't resist the enemy outside, it can't even find its own bait, it has only a dead end. The old man can give it freedom, but if it flies out of the cage, it is a death. Your Majesty, do you say that it is better for this canary to stay in the cage and enjoy the old man's service, or to annoy the old man and force the old man to let it go out and let it die outside? Lu Zhongtian turned his head and looked at Guo Xu quietly.

Guo Xu understood, Lu Zhongtian seemed to be comparing himself to this caged bird. Imply to yourself that everything you have today is given by him, and if you want to break free from his palm, that is a dead end. He was admonishing himself, with a hint of threat. In fact, there is not much cover-up for this, and the words have been made very clear.

Guo Xu was furious in his heart, he couldn't wait to be furious, pointing at Lu Zhongtian's face and scolding him for being disloyal, scolding him for being a powerful minister and a careerist. However, the villain in his head told him not to act rashly, and now he must not turn his face against his grandfather. The world is already in chaos, the situation is already sinister, if you annoy Lu Zhongtian at this time, I am afraid that you will not even be able to save your own life.

"Grandfather, how can this bird be in the midst of blessings and not know blessings? It must not want to go out. It should be thankful for your care. If it had other ideas, it would have died without a place to bury. Although I don't know what is in the mind of birds and beasts, I can guess that it will understand this truth. It's just that people sometimes get confused, let alone a caged bird. If it sometimes refuses to sing, I'm afraid it's just a tantrum, and my grandfather loves it so much, he won't ignore it because of that, right? Guo Xu said softly.

Lu Zhongtian looked at Guo Xu, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Hehe, what the emperor said is very true, where is the emperor who doesn't understand bird language, the emperor seems to understand it very well." It is true that it is sometimes disobedient, but the old man does not give up on it. ”

Guo Xu said softly: "This bird will definitely be very grateful in my heart." Grandfather, I can see it. ”

Lu Zhongtian nodded and said, "I hope so, I hope so." Let's stop talking about birds, let's get down to business. Didn't the emperor come to talk about business? Why is it that our conversation is all about this bird? Hehehe, that's weird. ”

"yes, hehehe, it's really weird." Guo Xu laughed dryly.

The two of them left the corridor and sat down in the large study, where the servants made fragrant tea. Sunlight shines in through the lattice, and the heat in the tea cup rises in the sunlight. The tea is fragrant and the atmosphere is quiet. If it weren't for the urgency of the state, this would be just a comfortable and peaceful narrative, but it is clear that the current situation does not allow for such a relaxed state of mind.

"Your Majesty, for the current situation, Emperor

What do you think in your heart? Whether...... Some regret that you didn't listen to the old minister? Lu Zhongtian sat in the shadow of the light and said in a deep voice.

Guo Xu said: "I really regret it, please forgive my grandfather for my ignorance, I should have thought about this matter before." The current situation is like this, and it has to be guided by my grandfather. ”

Guo Xu said this, and remembered Lin Jue's theory of Qin, 'Use the land to do Qin, if you hold the salary to fight the fire.' 'Words come. I was very helpless and resentful. I obviously didn't do anything wrong, but I have to admit my mistake at the moment.

Lu Zhongtian sighed: "It's a pity, there is no regret medicine in the world, when you listened to the old man's words, how can you have today?" Hey, it's come to this point, regret is useless, I can only barely support it. Does the emperor have any plans in mind? You might as well say it explicitly. ”

Guo Xu said: "The current situation is irreconcilable. I have run out of things to do, so I have come to see my grandfather, and I would like to ask for your guidance. My grandfather must have a plan in his heart, and I will listen to him. ”

Lu Zhongtian was very satisfied with Guo Xu's attitude, if it was before, Guo Xu would have to put forward some of his own ideas first, and he would say something about it. But today, he is no longer self-righteous.

"The old minister is only afraid that he will say a countermeasure, and it is not in line with the emperor's wishes, so what's the use of saying it?" Lu Zhongtian said in a deep voice.

Guo Xu scolded angrily in his heart, but said in his mouth: "I listen to my grandfather." I won't make my own decisions anymore. Grandfather rest assured. ”

Lu Zhongtian nodded and said, "In this case, the old minister will make it clear." Your Majesty, in the current situation, if you want to overcome this difficulty, you must make a trade-off. The old minister got the news that the soldiers and horses of the Jurchens and the Liao people were coming straight to Bianliang. Their purpose is obvious, that is, they want to seize my capital and come up with a strategy to rip off their hearts. Therefore, the top priority at the moment is to mobilize all the soldiers and horses to gather in the land of Gyeonggi and strictly defend it. As the so-called green mountains are left, I am not afraid of no firewood. As long as the capital is defended, their plan will be frustrated. With the strength of the Liao and Jurchens, they couldn't hold it for long. And my Great Zhou has the resources of the land south of the Yangtze River available, which can support it for a long time. As long as the capital is not lost, my Great Zhou will not die. In the end, the Jurchens and the Liao people will understand that it is impossible to destroy my Great Zhou and seize my capital, and by then restarting the peace talks, they will naturally be able to reach a peace agreement and settle the dispute. To put it simply, the most important thing is to defend Gyeonggi with all its might. ”

Guo Xu frowned and said, "But...... In this way, wouldn't all the roads in Hebei, the east and west, the Jingdong roads and even the Hedong Road all fall into the hands of the Jurchens and the Liao? Isn't this half of the country about to be lost? ”

Lu Zhongtian said in a deep voice: "The lesser of two evils, the capital cannot afford to lose, as for the outside of Gyeonggi...... But I had to give up for the time being. Lao Chen knew that it was really painful to do this, but it was also a last resort. ”

Guo Xu smacked his lips and said, "Do this...... Isn't it demoralizing? Can't we...... Can't you muster a great army and fight them to the death? There are still nearly 300,000 soldiers and horses in the northeast border town, and they can completely seek a decisive battle. Yuan Zhenqian's 250,000 troops of the Northwest Army could also be transferred back, and they were ordered to intercept the Liao army. If you are worried that you are not the opponent of the Jurchens in the northeast, you can mobilize 100,000 forbidden troops from the capital to support and fight a decisive battle with the 250,000 soldiers and horses of the Jurchens with an army of 400,000. ”