Chapter Eighty-Seven: Cowardly
Due to financial constraints, the so-called Yang Lian's banquet was only attended by Li Jing and several princes and several ministers who did not participate in the party struggle, otherwise Han Xizai, Chang Mengxi, Sun Sheng and others might have caused some turmoil here. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
Although there are few people at a banquet, it is also very enjoyable, and more than a dozen palace maids are dancing in the center of the main hall, singing melodiously and with sweet voices.
When Yang Lian was drinking, he looked at Li Congjia with a sad face from time to time. The young man doesn't know what it's like to be sad, but now Li Congjia is full of sadness, even if Yang Lian has already given him a trick, but for him, it seems too difficult.
Li Congjia's meal almost didn't touch a few days ago, but he drank a lot of wine, his face was flushed, and his drunkenness was getting stronger and stronger, and a palace maid was by his side, constantly adding wine to him.
Yang Lian sat in the third position on the left, in front of him were Li Jingsui, the king of Qi, and Li Jingda, the king of Hubei, the two had different expressions, Li Jingsui was naturally happy, but Li Jingda had a faint trace of sorrow. In the Tang Dynasty, among the royal family, one thing is almost recognized, Li Jingda's military ability is the strongest, and Li Hongji is second.
As for literature, Li Jing and Li Jingsui have good attainments, Li Congjia is young and has already emerged, and his achievements in literature in the future are not low. If it was in a peaceful era, whether it was Li Jing or Li Jingsui, with their personalities, at least they would be the kings of the faith, but now that it is a troubled era, the ideas of the literati will not work, and Li Jing's actions of being afraid of wolves and tigers before prove this.
Yang Lian has a full understanding of the situation in the Tang Dynasty, and Li Jing has ambitions, but he is hesitant, does not have much assertiveness, and is particularly suspicious, so Li Jingda, who is recognized as the most capable, cannot be reused. No matter how sharp the knife is, if it is left unmaintained for a period of time, the blade will definitely be dull. Li Jingda is like this, in order to save his life, like Han Xizai a few years ago, he gets drunk every night, at least on the surface, he is already decadent.
Yang Lian repeatedly said that he wanted to go home to care for the elderly, which was a temptation, and he also told Li Jing that he did not have much desire for power, and his attitude was expressed, as for what Li Jing thought, that was his business.
Yang Lian and the princes of the Tang Dynasty drank and talked happily, and during the banquet, some people listened to the Wuyue War with relish, and even Li Jingda couldn't help nodding again and again, no matter what, after destroying Wu Yueguo, there was no danger in the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yang Lian said to Li Jing that the damage caused by the war in Wu Yue was too great, and the states and counties in the old land of Wu Yue were exempted from taxes, and at the same time, inheriting the tradition of Wu Yueguo's maritime prosperity, vigorously encouraged shipping, and did business with other countries, and exchanged silk brocade, porcelain and other materials from abroad for gold, silver or other materials, especially fire oil, which was used to defend the city The sharpest.
Wu Yue Zhan reported that Li Jing had read it in detail, and he nodded in agreement, and out of trust in Cha Wenhui, he officially issued an order to order Cha Wenhui to guard Hangzhou, and temporarily lead Yuezhou, develop shipping, and restore the economy.
During the banquet, Li Jing asked about Yang Lian's fief, but Yang Lian said that he hadn't thought about it, in fact, Yang Lian refused to do so, what he needed was not just a fief, but the world, but this kind of thought was deeply hidden. Don't want a fief, but also to tell Li Jing that he will always stay in Jinling, even if he has no military power, just a happy marquis.
The two sides spent an hour in the words, and as another song and dance ended, the banquet was about to end. Yang Lian glanced at Li Congjia, and saw that he was still hanging his head and refusing to speak, so he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, with Li Congjia's cowardly character, he couldn't do this at all, otherwise he wouldn't have died in history.
After eating and drinking, and chatting for a while, Li Jing once again told Yang Lian to think about the fiefdom, and then stood up and left. The Son of Heaven left, Li Jingda also stood up, and walked away step by step, Yang Lian suddenly had a feeling that Li Jingda seemed to be looking at him, but when he turned around, he didn't see any clues.
Seeing Li Jingda walk out, Yang Lian shook his head lightly, perhaps because he was too worried. Li Jingsui, the king of Qi, stood up and said, "Yang Lian, go with this king." ”
Yang Lian said yes, half a step behind King Qi, and walked towards the outside of the main hall. Li Congjia slowly raised his head, stared at Yang Lian's departing back, shook his hands into fists, and slowly stood up, with a trace of resentment in his eyes.
Li Jingsui and Yang Lian walked along the gravel road in the palace city one after the other, and Li Jingsui said: "Yang Lian, the king of E has come to this king in the past two days, and wants to be released as a group training envoy, and he wants this king to say a few kind words in front of the imperial brother, do you think you can agree?" ”
Yang Lian felt strange in his heart, Li Jingda was not a stupid person, it was obvious that he knew that the imperial brother had something to do with him, so he had been in Taoguang and kept obscurity, or pretended to be degenerate, why did he want to be released now? And a mere regimental training envoy has no power at all, why should he be obsessed with release?
Yang Lian felt that Li Jingda should have any intentions, but he didn't know what his intentions were, so he had to say: "King Qi, there are some things that Yang Lian doesn't know, and I hope that King Qi will answer one or two." ”
"Yang Lian, what do you want to know?" King Qi asked.
Yang Lian lowered his voice and said, "Since the Son of Heaven ascended the throne, the King of E has no great power, just to be a happy prince. I also heard that the first emperor once wanted to pass the throne to the king of E, but I don't know if this is true or not? ”
King Qi's face changed slightly when he heard this, although Yang Lian didn't say it explicitly, but the meaning of his words was already very obvious, Li Jingsui coughed and said, "Well, it's all some of the past, and it's inconvenient for this king to say it clearly." "King Qi also has his concerns, if it weren't for Yang Lian's sudden appearance and a good relationship with him, and now he wants to become his son-in-law, King Qi would not have been able to support it until now.
Before Yang Lian appeared, Li Jing said many times that he wanted to make Li Jingsui the emperor's younger brother, but he was rejected by the king of Qi, his concerns were similar to Li Jingda, the king of Hubei, the royal family has no family affection, what can't be done for the sake of rights?
Yang Lian nodded to show that he understood, and some things were enough. The two then talked about other things, Yang Lian wanted to return to Yunzhou as soon as possible, the war between Zhou and Khitan had ended, and now Guo Wei encouraged farming, developed production, and actively restored the economy, and his intention was very obvious. Yanzhou, Yunzhou and other places are like a sharp dagger that can pierce Da Zhou's heart at any time. How could Guo Wei not be worried.
King Qi also knows, but the Tang Dynasty has experienced so many wars, and the consumption of food and money is very large, even if he destroys Wu Yue and gets the wealth of Wu Yue Kingdom, he still can't make ends meet, especially in order to buy the hearts of the people in Wu Yue's old land, restore the economy, and be exempt from taxes for three years, which is a lot of income.
The reason why Li Jing agreed was because he had lessons from Chu and Fujian. Cha Wenhui's governance in Fuzhou has been quite impressive in recent years, and it will not be too much of a problem to govern Hangzhou.
When he arrived at the gate of the imperial city, Li Jing got into the carriage and left slowly under the escort of his own soldiers. Yang Lian asked for a war horse from the soldiers defending the city, and was about to step on the war horse and leave, when a figure rushed quickly.
"Who?" Several soldiers were very vigilant, someone was actually making trouble at the gate of the imperial city?
"It's Lonely!" The person who came shouted loudly, and his voice was a little hoarse, it was Li Congjia.
Yang Lian saw that it was him, stopped, shook his head, and said, "Sixth prince, you still haven't made up your mind." ”
Li Congjia clenched his fists, slowly raised his head, there were tears in his eyes, and he said with a crying voice: "Wu Hou, I can't do it, I really can't do it." I, I, what should I do? ”
"You have to fight for your own happiness. Even if I help you this time, will you be happy in the future? Yang Lian said.
Li Congjia was stunned for a moment, and when he saw Yang Lian's serious face, he suddenly cried and ran away, as if only in this way could he relieve the pain in his heart.
Yang Lian looked at his departing back, shook his head, sighed, and turned over on his horse. At this time, the sky was already dark but not yet dark, and there were still many people on the street who were busy.
After walking half a mile, Yang Lian felt that the wine was getting stronger and stronger, so he got off the horse, led the war horse slowly, and when he arrived at the Feijin Bridge, he saw a woman, holding on to the railing, looking at the Qinhuai River.
Yang Lian's footsteps attracted the woman's attention, she turned her head, suddenly looked at Yang Lian in surprise, and said, "Young Master Yang." ”
"It turned out to be Miss Zhou." Yang Lian looked at it and said.
A smell of wine came, and Emperor Zhou E said, "Young Master Yang has drunk." ”
"The Son of Heaven held a banquet and entertained him, so he drank some more wine." Yang Lian said.
Emperor Zhou E nodded, but her emotions became a little complicated, she forced herself to suppress the anxiety in her heart, and said, "Young Master Yang has drunk, let the concubine send you home." ”
Yang Lian laughed, nodded, and agreed.
The two walked slowly along the Qinhuai River, Zhou Ehuang's heart was like a deer, her father had already told her, Yang Lian had agreed to the request, but there was no guarantee that things could be done, for Zhou Ehuang, this was enough, at least Yang Lian was willing to do things for her.
Emperor Zhou E secretly took his eyes to look at Yang Lian, and saw that his face was red, obviously he had drunk too much.
Yang Lian looked forward, but found that Zhou Ehuang was secretly looking at him, his emotions were also complicated, and after a short silence, the two suddenly opened their mouths.
Yang Lian stopped and said, "Miss Zhou, you speak first." ”
"No, it's better for Yang Gongzi to say it first." Zhou Ehuang was a little nervous, she faintly felt that Yang Lian was going to talk about this, and she didn't know if Yang Lian had thought of a way? His heart was expecting, he wanted to hear the answer immediately, but he was afraid to hear it. What if it fails? In her life, she will be tied to a man who doesn't want to love, and more importantly, King Yan wants to use the power of the Zhou family to add weight to him.
Yang Lian stopped and said, "Miss Zhou, there is one thing I want to ask you for verification. ”
Zhou Ehuang pursed his lips and nodded.
"Miss Zhou is reluctant to marry King Yan, on the one hand, she has no feelings for King Yan, and on the other hand, because she has someone she likes, I don't know if what I said is right?" Yang Lian said with a smile.
Zhou Ehuang's face quickly turned red, and his heart beat violently, he, got it? How would he know? Could it be that he is the same? Is this the spirit of the heart? Zhou Ehuang lowered his head, looked at his toes, and said "um" softly.
Yang Lian saw that she admitted it, so he said: "Since Miss Zhou has a crush, I will definitely find a way to be an adult, and I will never let you marry King Yan." ”
Emperor Zhou E raised his head in surprise, looked at Yang Lian's clear eyes, and said, "Young Master Yang, I believe that you will be able to do it." ”
Yan Wangfu, Li Hongji was pacing uneasily, his father set up a small banquet in the imperial city today to catch Yang Lian, Han Xizai and Chang Mengxi were just fine, but Sun Sheng was not invited as the prime minister, what does this mean? Is it that the Son of Heaven no longer trusts Sun Sheng, or does he think that there is a contradiction between the two and does not invite Prime Minister Sun?
Whatever it is, one thing is for sure, with the demise of Wu Yueguo, Yang Lian's status has been greatly improved, as evidenced by his title as Marquis of Wu. The consolidation of Yang Lian's position means the consolidation of the position of the King of Qi, how can he turn the situation around?
Guo Rong said that he would mobilize a group of dead soldiers from the Great Zhou to come over for Li Hongji to drive, but Li Hongji felt that it was unreliable. Li Hongji thought about it for a while, and sent people to call Chen Dongshen, Zhu Lingyun, Zhou Hongzuo, Zhou Ye and others, now he is the only one who can rely on these people, he wants to give it a try, at this most critical moment, will they still be loyal to him?
Half an hour later, these people came one after another, Chen Dongshen came the earliest, the Zhou brothers came together, and Zhu Lingyun came the latest.
Li Hongji had already asked people to prepare a banquet, and when the four of them came, they immediately started the banquet. Among several people, Chen Dongshen was the most clever, standing up from time to time and toasting Li Hongji. After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Li Hongji coughed and felt that the time had come.
"Several generals, who have known each other for many years, invite you to come to the mansion today because there is one thing I would like to ask you." Li Hongji spoke.
Zhou Hongzuo said: "It is a great honor for me to be able to serve King Yan. ”
Chen Dongshen saw that Zhou Hongzuo had taken the lead, and said unwillingly: "King Yan, what is there that requires the four of me to work together?" ”
At this time, the situation was unclear, and Li Hongji couldn't tell it all, but said: "It's also a trivial matter, Gu lost an extremely important thing and wanted to get him back." But this thing didn't know where it was, so he wanted a few generals to help. If he can find this thing, he will be grateful. ”
Zhu Lingyun said: "This thing that King Yan lost must be very important, and he must look for it with his heart to share his worries for King Yan." ”
Zhou Ye said: "King Yan, the humble and the younger brother will do their best to share the worries of King Yan." As long as King Yan said a word, even if there was a mountain of swords and a sea of fire in front of him, if the Zhou brothers frowned, they would not be considered heroes. ”
"Good!" Li Hongji saw that several people had expressed their attitudes, and his heart was a little fixed, and without understanding what was going on, these people expressed their attitudes. If you really want to do that in the future, the chances of working for him will definitely be very high. Thinking of this, Li Hongji was a little settled in his heart, raised the wine bottle, and said: "Several generals are the mainstays of the Tang Dynasty, and their achievements in the future will inevitably be not small. ”