Chapter 240: The Night Banquet (3)

Na Zhe said: "People can't be too arrogant, although Han Xizai is talented. But he is a little too precipitous, so his career is full of ups and downs. ”

Cao Deshun said: "You are so right, Han Xizai's life is indeed a few ups and downs."

Let me go on, after all, he was Li Jing's old official when he was the prince, and he was quite talented, so Li Jing gave him purple, that is, he could wear purple robes that only officials of the third rank or above could wear.

According to the Tang system, important officials who have not reached the third grade, such as the six squires, the middle book, and the subordinate squire, can only be given purple if necessary, and Han Xizai is only a five-grade langzhong, so he can be given purple, which shows that Li Jing still trusts him, and at the same time paves the way for further promotion. Sure enough, soon, Han Xizai was promoted to a scholar and a household waiter.

Since the thirteenth year of Baoda, the Later Zhou army attacked Huainan and defeated the Tang army in succession.

In the following year, Li Jing ordered his younger brother Li Jingda, the king of Qi, to be the marshal of the soldiers and horses of Zhudao, with Chen Jue as the envoy of the supervising army, and led a large army to resist the Zhou army. Han Xizai knew that Chen Juezhi was talented and sparse, jealous of the virtuous and jealous, and commanded the army to capture Fuzhou in the previous round, losing troops and losing generals, resulting in a great weakening of the national strength, so Shangshu resolutely opposed it.

He said: "There is no more pro than the prince, no more important than the marshal, why bother appointing the military envoy again!" "Because when the ancestor Li Yu was alive, he once intended to appoint Li Jingda as the crown prince, although this matter could not be implemented, after all, a shadow had been formed in Li Jing's heart, and it was not completely reassuring to hand over the military power to Li Jingda, so Chen Jue was sent to contain it. In this case, Han Xizai's advice will naturally not be adopted, but Li Jing's stubbornness has laid a great hidden danger for the fiasco of the war.

During this period, although the Tang army was repeatedly defeated, due to the corruption of the military discipline of the Later Zhou army, wherever they went, they burned, killed and looted, which aroused the resistance of the people of Huainan, and they automatically took up arms and attacked the Zhou army everywhere; In addition, Zhou Shizong once returned to Bianliang, and many of the lost states and counties of the Tang State were recovered one after another.

Tang Guoshou Prefecture guard Liu Renzhen sent troops to attack the besieging Zhou army, killing and wounding tens of thousands, and burning countless of its weapons. In a favorable situation, Liu Renzhen sent people to Haozhou, where Li Jingda was stationed, and asked to send the general Bian Hao to defend Shouzhou, and he took advantage of the victory to lead the army out of the city to fight a decisive battle with the Zhou army.

Due to Chen Jue's interference, Liu Renzhen's request was not approved, and Liu Renzhen was indignant. At this time, the Zhou army retreated one after another, preparing to concentrate their forces to capture Shouzhou, and the generals of the Tang State requested to take the opportunity to invite the Zhou army to attack according to the danger, and the central power of the DPRK was worried about the expansion of the situation and was not allowed to act, causing the Zhou army to retreat to Zhengyang safely, making the siege of Shouzhou even more difficult to rescue.

Although Li Jingda was a marshal, he was restrained by Chen Jue everywhere, and the military and political power was actually controlled by Chen Jue, and Chen Jue had 50,000 troops, and he had no intention of fighting a decisive battle, and the generals were afraid of his power, and no one dared to speak. Just when the two sides were at a standstill, there was an incident in which Zhu Yuan, the general of the Tang State, defected and surrendered to the enemy, causing the situation to be out of control.

What happened was like this, Zhu Yuan was ordered to serve as the governor of the northwest of Huainan, and he even went down to Shu and Erzhou, and garrisoned the Purple Mountain.

Zhu Yuan is good at soothing the soldiers, sharing the joys and sorrows, swearing in every battle, making generous statements, snotty faces, and the soldiers are all effectively dead. Chen Jue and Zhu Yuan were at odds, and Zhu Yuan was not credible and could not be given military power.

Li Jing then ordered Yang Shouzhong to replace Zhu Yuan to lead the army. After Yang Shouzhong arrived at the front, Chen Jue, in the name of Li Jingda, summoned Zhu Yuan to Haozhou to discuss matters and seek to seize his military power. When Zhu Yuan heard this, he was sad and wanted to commit suicide.

His disciples persuaded him to surrender to Hou Zhou, and Zhu Yuan led more than 10,000 people from his headquarters to surrender to Hou Zhou. Zhu Yuan's surrender caused the collapse of the Tang army, and they fled east along the Huai River, and were intercepted by the Zhou army that had been ambushed in advance, killing and wounding more than 40,000 people who surrendered, and abandoning countless ships and equipment.

Li Jingda and Chen Jue fled back to Jinling in embarrassment, and the generals Bian Hao, Xu Wenzhi, and Yang Shouzhong were captured. Shouzhou reinforcements were cut off, and the guard general Liu Renzhen died of grief, and Shouzhou was lost. The rest of the state guards abandoned the city and fled, and the warships of the Later Zhou Dynasty went straight into the Yangtze River and the Bulie River. The Tang State was completely defeated, so it had to cede the fourteen states of Huainan to the Later Zhou and call the ministers a tribute.

Li Jing did not listen to Han Xizai's advice, and finally caused a catastrophe of defeat. Since then, the Tang State has been poor and weak, and has been in a situation of passive beating. In order to avoid the threat of the Central Plains Dynasty, Li Jing was forced to move the capital to Hongzhou, and he himself was depressed and finally fell ill and died. ”

Na Zhe sighed with emotion: "Li Jing is not a Ming Jun either!" It was because he couldn't know people and do good jobs that he caused the situation that the Tang Kingdom was now in a corner of the south of the Yangtze River, and he himself died of grief. I don't think the current Li Yu is any better, Brother Cao, the Tang Kingdom is in a big trend! You're going to have to get out of the way as soon as possible! ”

Cao Deshun looked worried: "You are so right, the current lord Li Yu is good at literary style, but he is lazy in government and politics, and he is definitely not a monarch who can make a difference." Now in the Chinese Dynasty, except for Lin Renzhao, the generals who led the troops were all wine bags and rice bags. I think Tang Guo is probably going to end! ”

"The demise of the Tang Kingdom is a historical inevitability, and now the Great Song army in the north is like a wolf and a tiger. When the Great Song Dynasty destroyed the Shu Kingdom and cleaned up the Southern Han Dynasty, it would be the turn of the Tang Kingdom. Zhao Kuangyin is an eloquent emperor, and he will definitely unify the world. ”

Cao Deshun said worriedly: "That virtuous brother, our Cao family will be entrusted to you in the future." You Seven Seas can't ignore me. ”

Na Zhe nodded: "Brother, please rest assured, our brother will definitely take care of your Cao family." This matter is wrapped up in my little brother. ”

Cao Deshun breathed a sigh of relief: "This is very good, that virtuous brother, can Zhao Kuangyin really dominate the world?" ”

Na Zhe snorted: "Zhao Kuangyin must have such ambitions, but it depends on whether our brother agrees." If we devote ourselves to development for ten years, with sufficient population and material supply, with our weapons and equipment and the training level of the army, the army of the Great Song Dynasty can completely win the battle. ”

Cao Deshun saw that Na Zhe was full of confidence, and said with a smile: "That virtuous brother, I am really convinced." The weapons on your ships are so cruel! What *, *, as well as bed crossbows and ballistas, if they are moved to land and used to defend the city, this city is estimated to be impossible to break in a hundred years! ”

Na Zhe slapped his thigh, and then said excitedly: "That's right! Dude, you reminded me. Hahaha! If we provide Li Yu with weapons, and then sell him cement to strengthen the walls of Jinling. In this way, the army of the Great Song Dynasty will attack it for ten years, and it will not want to break through the city defense of Jinling! ”

Cao Deshun was also very happy, he had grown up in Jinling City since he was a child, and of course he didn't want to leave this familiar city.

"That virtuous brother, if we mention these murderous weapons to Li Yu, will he buy them?"

Na Zhe said confidently: "Definitely, Li Yu is not a fool." If we bring in a weapon and show him how powerful it is, he will definitely pay a lot of money for it. But the scale of our production is not good, the production of weapons is still too small! We have to think long-term! However, it will be at least ten years before the Great Song Dynasty attacks the Tang Kingdom, and we have time, so don't worry. ”

Cao Deshun nodded: "Yes, this matter is in a hurry!" When we return to Qishan Island, let's discuss it. ”

Na Zhe asked: "Brother Cao, after Li Yu ascended the throne, how is Han Xizai's current situation?" ”

After Li Yu ascended the throne, he appointed Han Xizai as a servant of the Ministry of Officials and a concurrently repairing the history of the country. Soon, because of the recasting of coins, Han Xizai and the prime minister continued to argue in front of the palace, and Han Xizai was full of words and shook the court.

Because of his rudeness, Li Yu was reassigned to secretary and supervisor. In less than a year, he was reappointed as the servant of the Ministry of Officials, and was promoted to the secretary of the military department and the bachelor of the palace of diligence. Later, because of his uninhibited and indulgent voice, he was impeached and demoted to the right concubine of the prince and the southern capital, that is, he was placed in Hongzhou. Han Xizai begged for condolences, so he was left behind and reassigned to his old position.

Han Xizai's family was originally quite wealthy, in addition to the monthly lucrative income, because of his excellent writing, the literary fame spread far and wide, the Jiangnan nobles, scholars, monks and monks carried gold silk to ask him to write the stele of the people endlessly, and even asked for a thousand gold to write a text, plus the emperor's reward, so that Han Xizai became one of the few wealthy families among the courtiers of the Tang State.

It is precisely because Han Xizai's family is rich in wealth that he has the conditions to accumulate music, recruit guests, and feast, drink, sing and dance. We will definitely be treated by him today, and we will definitely feast our eyes, it is said that the singers and dancers in Han Xizai's family are all beautiful and moving, and their posture is very outstanding. ”

Na Zhe couldn't help but feel a little moved: "Han Xizai really enjoys life!" I want to take a good look at these beauties, I can't miss them. ”

The two chatted for a while, and Na Zhe felt that the carriage stopped, and someone outside said respectfully: "The head of the family, you have arrived at the Han Mansion, please get off the car." ”

Na Zhe was the first to lift the curtain and jumped out of the carriage. Cao Deshun shook his head helplessly, young people are impatient! He then slowly got out of the carriage.

Na Zhe found himself outside a huge mansion, which was large in scale and very magnificently built.

Outside the vermilion gate, several soldiers in armor and armed weapons stood guard. At the side entrance, several people dressed as housekeepers were waiting.

Seeing the convoy, the two family members hurriedly walked over and asked with a smile: "Everyone, are you here to attend the banquet?" Didn't ask Taifu about it? ”

A steward beside Cao Deshun stepped forward and replied: "This little brother, my master was invited to the banquet. We are the people of the Cao family, and this is the head of the Cao family. The one next to him was the guest of honor at this banquet, that gentleman. ”

The two family members suddenly had a green light in their eyes, and looked Na Zhe up and down. It made Na Zhe a little hairy, and at the same time the chrysanthemum tightened.

He thought to himself, Lao Tzu doesn't do it, why do these two family members look at me like this?