(Second update.) ）

After the banquet, it was late at night, and a group of civil officials and generals left one after another.

Fei Gaozhang, accompanied by a young man, left the hall and walked to the atrium, just in time to see Li Congjing maneuvering among several officials.

The courtyard is brightly lit, Li Congjing's smile looks sincere and modest under the light, this is a banquet, he is not wearing armor, a round scarf with black hair, a unicorn robe, majestic and not rigid, eleven gold and jade belts around his waist, showing his tall and slender figure quite chic. Among the civil officials and military generals beside Li Congjing, there are many people with outstanding faces, or delicate or elegant, and even a head taller than him, but standing in front of him, whether in terms of momentum or temperament, it is obviously not as good as him.

The people who can come to today's banquet are all well-known figures in Youzhou, and they are just right, but in a group of outstanding people, Li Congjing's bearing is outstanding.

"Comfortable but not open, elegant but not soft, tight but not tight, as clear as jade, a gentleman? Panicked? Of course, a gentleman is also a warrior! Rao is Fei Gaozhang's life of knowledge, and at this time, he can't help but admire Li Congjing's demeanor.

The young man beside him, twenty-five or sixteen years old, with a delicate appearance and a feminine temperament, raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this, but did not speak.

Fei Gaozhang walked two steps quickly, and in the gap between Li Congjing sending away the previous batch of civil officials and military generals, he came to him, and greeted him with a smile: "The young marshal has a charming demeanor, it is really the only one in the life of the old man, the name of the young marshal has long been heard, and when I see it today, I know what it means to be famous It is better to meet, fortunately!" ”

Fei Gaozhang as the leader of Youzhou civil officials, Li Congjing naturally knows, because he knows the weight of the other party, after hearing Fei Gaozhang's words of praise, Li Congjing said modestly: "Congjing is young and frivolous, and he should not be praised by Mr. Mr. is old and strong, with a graceful bearing, and looks like an immortal from Jing! ”

Fei Gaozhang laughed, joked with Li Congjing with a smile, and exchanged pleasantries for a while, and finally said: "When the young marshal first arrived in Youzhou, the old man also wanted to do his best to fulfill the friendship of the landlord. ”

Fei Gaozhang is old, and he is the head of the civil officials in Youzhou except for Li Cunxian, so it stands to reason that there is no need to be so polite. However, Li Congjing is about to replace Li Cunzhen and become his top boss, although he is young, he cannot be taken lightly; Second, Li Congjing has the great merit of recovering Pingzhou and repeatedly defeating the Khitan, how can he be said needless to say, how can people not be in awe?

"Sir is a senior, and he has been taught from the present." Li Congjing said so, and said goodbye to Fei Gaozhang.

Leaving the court, he got into a carriage outside the official office, and Fei Gaozhang left accompanied by the young man.

There were few pedestrians on the street, and it was unusually quiet, only the footsteps of a group of people and the sound of wheels crushing on the ground.

Fei Gaozhang's voice came out, "Get in the car." ”

The young man dismounted, boarded the carriage, and sat opposite Fei Gaozhang in the carriage. The carriage is quite spacious, and it does not seem cramped for two people to sit opposite each other, and there is a small stove inside, so it seems very warm. Fei Gaozhang put his hands in his sleeves, closed his eyes, and asked the young man in front of him, "Before, in the atrium, the old man said that Li Congjing's demeanor was both a gentleman and a warrior, do you seem to think so?" ”

The young man did not hide it, and said calmly: "The theory of style is mysterious and false, and students do not take it seriously. ”

"Oh?"

"The demeanor of a person, if it is brilliant, is nothing more than the handsomeness of the skin, what is the value of its gain from heaven and its parents?"

Fei Gaozhang was stunned, and said unhurriedly: "Since you have this thought, do you think that what the old man said before was seen by the fool?" ”

The young man was slightly stunned, and then said honestly: "Please teach me, teacher." ”

Fei Gaozhang snorted and said: "There are poems and books in the belly, and the qi is luxurious, Mencius said 'raise the spirit of Haoran', aren't these words unreasonable?" Li Congjing, as a military general, has fought for many years, has many military exploits, and is a prominent young man, but he is not domineering, but humble and cautious, why? A military general, out of the general's door, Li Siyuan Douda does not know a few words, and his demeanor actually has the meaning of Confucianism, gentle and elegant, why? One person has both civil and martial states, and the two are contradictory, but they are compatible with him, what does this mean? ”

The young man was silent.

Fei Gaozhang sighed, "The person with qi, the god of all things, everyone has qi, and knowing his qi can recognize his person, I look at Li Congjing, and I already have a heroic qi!" ”

The young man showed a look of surprise, and without waiting for him to speak, Fei Gaozhang opened his eyes and asked him with blazing eyes: "Nothing else for the time being, you tell the old man first, what kind of person can have a heroic aura?" ”

The young man still didn't say a word, his eyes flickered, and his feminine temperament became a little more gloomy.

Fei Gaozhang slowed down his tone and said to the young man: "On the first floor, the old man is telling you this today, not to discuss false things with you, but to take the opportunity to tell you that Li Congjing should not be underestimated. You should have heard of what he did in Pingzhou, and I ask you, if he wants to make Youzhou a second Pingzhou, or make Youyun become Pingzhou, what should you do? ”

On the first floor is the word of the young man, his real surname is Zhang, and his name is far away. After listening to Fei Gaozhang's words, Zhang Yilou could no longer remain indifferent, and changed color and said: "Why does Li Congjing dare to do this? ”

Fei Gaozhang leaned on his back, closed his eyes again, and said half-loudly: "On the first floor, 'people's feelings, those who are different from themselves, can't kiss their grievances, can't praise their evil', you and Li Congjing are not the same kind of people, if you want to get along with them in the future without revealing malice, you have to put aside these prejudices." You know, if there is no water in the bowl, you can hold water, and if the bowl is full, you can't hold anything. ”

Zhang Yilou shut up.

"Recognizing him, and then getting close to him, so that he can hopefully be reused, this is the first step."

After the banquet, Li Congjing did not leave the official office, and after a group of civil officials and military generals dispersed, Li Cunxian called Li Congjing to the study, and the two had a separate discussion.

"After the destruction of the pseudo-Liang, the old man wrote to His Majesty several times, asking him to replace the envoy of the Youzhou Festival, and recommended you to replace the old man. When you first went north, the old man was still a little worried, lest you lack prestige and cannot successfully take the old man's place. In the past year, although you have repeatedly performed miraculous feats, quelling the rebellion, Ke Huaimeng, defeating Wang Yanzhang, and attacking Daliang City, but after all, you are young, the border people are fierce, and there are many impassioned people in Youyun, and the old man is also worried that your wrists are not strong enough. Now, you have given the old man a surprise, and you have the credit of recovering Pingzhou, and this time you have taken over the old man's position, and the prestige is enough. When Li Cunxian said these words to Li Congjing, there was a smile of relief in his eyes.

Li Congjing said: "The teacher is a horse for the Tang Dynasty, and his merits are numerous, which can no longer be measured, and now he is returning to the dynasty, which is right." Helplessly, there are villains in the court blocking the way, and the teacher is going back, and I don't know when I have to wait. ”

Li Cunxian waved his hand, "The old man knows that his time is running out, and it is naturally best to return to the court. Everyone has their own aspirations, and words like 'villains blocking the way' must not be said much. Although you are now in charge of Youyun's military affairs, but Datang is Your Majesty's Datang after all, those people have been in front of Your Majesty for a long time, and they can speak every day, even if it is for Youyun's plan, you can't offend them and make them embarrassed! ”

"Villain" Yunyun naturally refers to the current privy envoy of the Tang Dynasty and Li Cunxian's protégé, Guo Chongtao.

Li Congjing was quite angry at Guo Chongtao's villainous behavior.

When the two met in Weizhou, it originated from the fact that the two had a common enemy, Li Congjing wanted to attack Wu Jingzhong, and Guo Chongtao also needed to suppress the Wu family in order to defeat Zhang Juhan and be promoted to privy envoy, so the two hit it off. After that, in the battle on the river, Li Congjing and Guo Chongtao built a military city together, and rejected Wang Yanzhang together, and the cooperation was not bad. Whether it was before or now, Li Congjing and Guo Chongtao have no direct conflict of interest, and even have some affection. Li Congjing can get out of the town, and Guo Chongtao can contribute from it.

It's just that Guo Chongtao's behavior towards Li Cunxian is too shameful.

In today's Tang Dynasty, there are three generals with the most military achievements: Li Cunxian, Li Siyuan, and Guo Chongtao. Li Cunxian Rongma has shed countless blood for the Li family all his life, and he is half of the Tang Dynasty; Li Siyuan is also a victorious general, with many great victories and outstanding military achievements, and among the existing Tang generals, the merit is second only to Li Cunxian; Guo Chongtao's military exploits are not much, and the highlight is in the battle of Annihilation.

At that time, Wang Yanzhang led the army to conquer the city, and made a big attack in the north, and everyone was frightened, and they all said that Li Cunqiao and the pseudo-Liang crossed the Yellow River to rule, and Guo Chongtao was the first to stand up and put forward the strategic plan of "defending Weizhou, protecting Yang Liu, and converging Li Siyuan to directly attack Liangdu", which was adopted and practiced. So although Daliang City was conquered by Li Congjing, at that time, Li Congjing was just a pawn, and Guo Chongtao was the one who strategized and made the greatest contributions. He was originally a close minister of Li Cunxuan, because he was able to sit firmly at the top of the highest military institution in the Tang Dynasty after the fall of the pseudo-Liang.

Although Guo Chongtao's merits are great, they are still inferior to Li Cunxian, who has accumulated military merits for decades. Guo Chongtao knew this very well, and in order to ensure that his position as a privy envoy would not be seized and eaten by Li Cunzhen after his return to the court, he tried his best to prevent Li Cunzhen from returning to the court, even though Li Cunzhen was seriously ill.

"There are those who can share in the riches and cannot share in the suffering, and there are those who can share in the sufferings and cannot share in the riches. The former abound, and the latter is also lacking, and the reason is that the soul has been plundered by power. People in this generation, once they hold power, they are deeply impressed by power, and they can no longer tolerate loss, nor can they give even a little bit to others. Guo Chongtao is nothing more than that, he may be selfish, but he is not a big traitor. Li Cunxian sighed, "That's it, I won't go back to the court." It's just a pity that I'm afraid I'll never see Your Majesty again in this life. ”

Li Cunzhen is old and strong, Li Congjing is not willing to be in his twilight years, suffering from physical torture and mental torment, and has already made up his mind in his heart: no matter whether Li Cunxian's return to the dynasty is useful for curing his serious illness, he will let him return to Luoyang.

This is the responsibility of the students to the husband, and it is also the respect of the successors to the pioneers.

A month later, just as the New Year was approaching, a pair of ragged boys and girls approached Luoyang, the capital of God.

On this day, there was a heavy wind and snow, the cold wind was howling, like a wild beast roaring, and Luoyang City was like a hibernating tiger and leopard, curled up in the wind and snow, burying his head in silence.

When the boys and girls were only a hundred steps away from the city gates, the sun covered the land, and twelve bells and drums rang out in the city, and in an instant, the city gates slowly closed.

A hundred steps, separating two worlds, dividing the distance between birth and death.

"Heya, the city gate is closed, and we can't get in."

"Brother, I'm so cold, will we freeze to death here?"

“……”