When Han Gang saw Guo Kui for the first time, he was shocked.

It's not that Guo Kui looks appalling and miserable. The predecessor of Yanzhou Zhizhou, the new Qin Fengjing has a dignified appearance, with straight eyebrows and nose, beard and beard, and majesty. The figure is strong and tough, a little taller than Han Gang. In addition, it may be because of the gold body that he has plated in the Privy Council, although he and Li Shizhong greet the officials without restraint, but it seems that there is a kind of coercion with him, which makes the people around him feel restrained involuntarily.

However, Han Gang has even seen Wang Anshi, and he is not a villager who has never seen the world, so he will not be shocked by Guo Kui's aura. The reason why I was surprised was because Guo Kui was so young.

Han Gang has always heard people say that Guo Kui is a general, who has been in the army for a long time and is old in military affairs. If you listen too much, your ears will be calloused. Gradually, Guo Kui, who was formed in his heart, was a veteran with gray hair, although he looked old, his eyes were sharp as electricity, and he was unwilling to obey the old man.

But today, Guo Kui is less than fifty years old! He looked much smaller than Li Shizhong, who was nearly sixty years old next to him. And Zhang Shouyue, who was talking to Guo Kui, he, the old army leader, had been struggling all year round and looked younger than his actual age. And after becoming a ruler, he was comfortable and even more radiant, and people at the age of sixty said that he was believed by people at the age of fifty. But in front of Guo Kui, he also looks old.

Han Gang stood in the crowd, watching Guo Kui smile and greet the officials who came to greet him one by one, without any impatience. He smiled kindly and gently, not at all as difficult as the legend suggests.

"Yukun, why have you been staring at Taiwei Guo." Wang Hou's voice came from his side.

Han Gang tilted his head slightly, his expression was still solemn, and he said in a voice that only Wang Hou could hear: "Junior brother is thinking, Taiwei Guo is young, compared to Li Jingluo, it is like two generations. ”

"Li Jing is slightly ten or nine years older than Taiwei Guo, of course he looks old-fashioned." Wang Hou also maintained a serious and upright posture, and his mouth moved slightly, "But these days, Li Jingluo is indeed old...... Isn't my heart happy! ”

Han Gang didn't listen any further, and Wang Hou's first sentence surprised him again. Li Shizhong is fifty-eight years old this year, and a few months ago, when he was doing his birthday, Han Gang also followed Wang Shao to his house to give him a birthday gift. If Wang Hou is right, Guo Kui is nine or ten years older than Li Shizhong, so if you calculate it, he will only be forty-nine years old in a few years!

Han Gang calculated in his heart, since Guo Kui is only forty-nine now, then when he entered the Privy Council in the second year of Yingzong Zhiping, he was only forty-five years old. At this age, he has risen to the pinnacle that the military generals of this dynasty can reach, and then look at Zhang Shouyue, or Dou Shunqing, who was kicked out of Qinzhou, I am afraid that everyone will shout in their hearts, this person and people's circumstances are really incomparable-just like Han Qi was in his thirties, and with Wang Anshi's talent, he only had a place in the Chongzheng Palace when he was almost fifty years old.

And the so-called veteran is easy to explain. A general who has been in the army for many years is a general. If you start leading the army in your twenties, and when you reach your fifties, you can generally get this title if you have led the army for more than 20 years. Guo Kui relied on his father's shadow to become an official, and after his brother Guo Zun died in Sanchuankou thirty years ago, he relied on Guo Zun's death to make up for the promotion of two levels, and at this time he could already be regarded as a general. After 30 years of leading the army, it is natural to be called a general.

Han Gang was looking at Guo Kui, and at the same time, someone was looking at him.

Guo Zhongxiao silently followed his father forward, but the corner of his eye was in the crowd. It didn't take much effort for him to easily find Han Gang's figure from a group of people.

There are not many young officials in Qinzhou, only a few in their twenties. And among these people, there is a tall and handsome young man who is between youth and teenager. With a pure temperament and outstanding demeanor, standing among a group of lowly officials, it is like standing out from the crowd, which is particularly conspicuous.

And standing next to him, there was a green-robed official of the same age as him, who looked very similar to Wang Shao, who had just passed the name, and was Wang Hou, the second son of Wang Shao with him. will stand side by side with Wang Hou, who will not dare to enter Guwei alone at night, and Han Yukun, who has also made many inventions in the military, who else will be?

Guo Zhongxiao himself is only twenty-three or four, and in terms of family background, he is proud enough, and the shadow of the right hall is on his body. In terms of learning, before he was weak, he had studied under Ercheng for two years, and he was deeply praised by Cheng Yi. just saw the handsome Han Gang, he was originally a little jealous because of Guo Kui's praise for Han Gang, but he had more thoughts of not admitting defeat.

- What Han Gang can do, he can do it himself, Ercheng's subordinates, he will not lose to the disciples of Hengqu!

Han Gang always felt that someone was glancing at him, it was the young man who was following Guo Kui, his appearance was somewhat similar to Guo Kui, most of them were his sons. And Guo Kui himself also glanced over from time to time, and there were a few times when he and Han Gang's eyes almost met.

Han Gang didn't know what the father and son were up to, and they always looked at him, but their gaze made Han Gang feel very uncomfortable. With Dou Shunqing and Li Shizhong in front, Guo Kui's father and son's attention to him made Han Gang's heart ring the alarm bell.

No longer looking at Guo Kui, Han Gang's attention fell on Li Xian, who was half a step behind Guo Kui. The smile on the face of the big mink of the Imperial Medicine Academy was a little stiff, and his eyebrows were slightly furrowed, feeling that he was a little impatient with the outskirts in front of him.

At this time, Han Gang was also thinking about ending this hellish outskirts ceremony as soon as possible. Go back to the state office earlier, so as to see what good things Li Xian has brought.

Guo Kui seemed to have heard Han Gang's heart, and after meeting with more than a dozen high-ranking state Chinese military officials one by one, he no longer exchanged some nonsense with the low-level officials in green robes, but followed Li Shizhong and Li Xian out of the group of civil and military officials from Qinzhou.

It's finally over. Han Gang was thinking so, but he didn't watch out for Guo Kui stopping in front of him.

Guo Kui, who was face to face with Han Gang, had unfathomable eyes in his eyes, and he couldn't see any mood fluctuations. Just looked Han Gang up and down a few times, and then asked, "But Han Yukun?" ”

As soon as we met, I came to the door, and I was really anxious. Han Gang sighed secretly and bowed to Guo Kui: "Han Gang greets the captain." ”

"No need to be polite!" Guo Kui stretched out his hands and held Han Gang firmly. Han Gang worked his waist and abdomen, wanting to bow down and make enough rituals. But he couldn't bend down, Guo Kui's hands were like iron casting, judging from the force coming from the two arms that were being grasped, his blocking was definitely not pretending.

Han Gang tried two more times, and found that Guo Kui had no intention of letting go, so he finally straightened up, "Han Gang is rude." ”

Guo Kui smiled, "Sure enough, he is a hero out of a teenager!" ”

After speaking, he didn't wait for Han Gang to say a word of thanks. He walked straight to the mount, jumped on the horse, and went to Qinzhou with Li Shizhong and Li Xian first.

The surrounding officials all looked over, but Han Gang's expression was calm, and he couldn't see excitement or surprise. But his heart was churning. From Guo Kui's words and deeds, it can be seen that he values himself, but this situation is the same trouble as Guo Kui's single-minded and incompatible with himself.

He glanced at Wang Hou, whose face changed suddenly: "This corner of the wall is not dug authentically!" ’

At night, the state government is brightly lit, and dozens of giant candles illuminate the lobby. The reception banquet was the most lively time, especially the few people who had participated in the victory of Guwei, and they were all saluted in turn.

Just before the banquet began, Li Xian had already read out the edict.

Wang Shao was promoted to the rank of official because of his merits. However, when the official product reached his level, he had just been promoted, and it was impossible for him to soar into the sky. is only promoted to a first rank, and he has the official position of a member of the water department of the school, and at the same time, he has a knighthood of a male in the founding county and 300 households in the city.

And Gao Zunyu, he was still in Guwei and didn't have time to come back. However, Li Xian must be going to Guwei Village, otherwise the rewards given to the Qingtang Department and the rewards for appeasing Nazhi Linzhan and other departments will not be easy to distribute.

As for Han Gang, with his dazzling performance in the victory of Guwei, he was promoted for the second time after only half a year in the official. It's just that he went from the trial title of Zhilai Prefecture to the position of judge of the Weisheng Army, which is only two promotions. According to the rules, in the stage of selecting people and Beijing officials, those who have a background and military merits can be promoted by skipping the ranks. Han Gang was promoted to two ranks at a time because of his merit in the war, which is not wrong. But his merits really have to be calculated, and they will never be more than just jumping one step.

In the name of Wang Shao and Gao Zunyu, Han Gang entered Qingtang City at night and persuaded Yu Longke to fight, and the task he performed was the most critical part of the victory of Guwei. And what he got was much more meager than when Guo Kui persuaded Baozhou to rebel alone. When the rebel army surrendered out of the city due to Guo Kui's persuasion, he was able to rise directly to the capital of Huanqing and the Marquis of the Pavilion from Qipin.

The only consolation is that Han Gang's promotion speed is much faster than that of an official from a Jinshi. This year's new jinshi, except for the champion Ye Zuqia and the second and third ranks, everyone else is at the lowest level of the civil officials who are sentenced to the rank of lieutenant. Naturally, the step-by-step promotion of Jinshi is a routine, but Han Gang's promotion is a special case based on military merits. If there is no merit in the future, Han Gang can only watch the Jinshi surpass him step by step.

However, it may be that in order to make up for Han Gang's indebtedness in terms of rank, he was compensated in other ways. Because his parents were there, it was inconvenient to give it as Han Gang's chosen person, so his two brothers who died in the royal affairs were each posthumously gifted. This is a benefit to the imperial court, and for Han Gang, the spiritual positions and tombstones of his two brothers can be changed to a larger one, and Lao Tzu and Lao Niang must be relieved to see it. and three hundred taels of silver, and two hundred horses of silk as a reward.

'Forget it! Han Gang thought, this was also expected. At the age of 20, he was transferred from a candidate to a Beijing official, and he was only a newcomer to the official for half a year, so he didn't know how many people would be jealous. Whether it is from the perspective of protecting himself, or from the perspective of the ease of driving the hungry eagle, the Son of Heaven and Wang Anshi will choose to press his official position - this practice is extremely normal, and even Wang Shao was deliberately suppressed.

But what if you make new contributions? I don't know what the Son of Heaven and Wang Xianggong will do when the time comes? It's hard to suppress anymore, right?

- Especially when you have a new boss who appreciates you.

Han Gang raised his glass and responded to Guo Kui's kindness.