Li Sheng put up a shelf, and the person who was standing in the lobby of the Taishou Mansion in Hainan County eagerly carried out this welcoming activity was taken care of by Shi Yi, who had just taken refuge in Li Sheng and completely grasped the power of the family with Li Sheng's support. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoAlthough the feud between the Shi family and Li Sheng is definitely not shallow, the current Shi Yi is absolutely loyal to Li Sheng. Because he knows that now his position as the head of the Shi family can only be stable by relying on Li Sheng's support, if it causes Li Sheng's unhappiness in some places, and causes him to abandon himself, then not to mention that Li Sheng's army can easily take away his life, even those in his own family who originally belonged to the elders and those who peep into the position of the head of the family in their hands will not hesitate to pull themselves off the horse and let themselves die a good death.

"I have gained absolute rights in my family, and I have lost my position. Alas...... I don't know if my decision was right or wrong. Shi Yi sighed, and there was no need to say the discomfort in his heart. In just over a month since his brother's death, he has always felt exhausted after experiencing too many things. Inadvertently, there are a lot more gray hairs on his head, and he is only in his forties, but he looks like a person who is about to enter fifty from a distance, full of vicissitudes of old feeling.

Although there is some greasy taste in his heart, Shi Yi only feels that he has this greasy taste in his heart. He already understands what kind of status he is now, and at this moment, he is very serious and conscientious about what Li Sheng has ordered to explain. He had been waiting in the lobby of the Taishou Mansion an hour before the banquet began, dressed and ready to welcome the guests who were about to arrive.

It was the first time he had met his former allies after the war. Although all the guests came from all over the world, in order to arrive on time, they all arrived several days early, and many of them tried to take advantage of their acquaintances with themselves to try to meet with them before the meeting, so as to find out all kinds of things about Li Sheng, the "lord", but Shi Yi refused without exception. If he just felt a little tired of being loyal to Li Sheng, the "enemy", then for these former allies, he was not completely tired. He hated these people, believing that the defeat and death of his brother was a large part of the ineffective fighting of the troops sent by them. So, he thought of revenge, and the most important part of this revenge was undoubtedly to deal with them with the help of Li Sheng's power. As one of the people who often deal with them, of course he knows what kind of calculations these people have in their hearts, and he also understands that there are always one or two guys among them who don't know whether they are alive or dead. So he expected his main guild to raise the butcher's knife in his hand because of the opposition of one or two people who didn't know whether they were alive or dead.

"Isn't that just killing a chicken for the monkey to see? Hehe, how much suffering our scholars have suffered, you people must also taste it. Shi Yi laughed gloomily, and the imbalance in his heart seemed to have become much better because of the thought of this.

With such a slightly gloating thought, Shi Yi stood in the lobby and greeted everyone politely. Everyone's face is full of smiles, even if they have huge contradictions with each other, and they are eager to seek each other's wealth, replace each other's status, and annex each other's everything, but on the surface, they all have to put on such a friendly and amiable appearance, so that uninformed people look at each other from afar and think that they are all good friends and brothers. This may be the so-called wearing a mask.

Li Sheng's banquet was a luncheon, which began at noon. Because of the large number of people invited to the banquet, and because of the difference between the relatives and the level of each other, a more formal seating system was adopted, which made it completely impossible to sit in a huge hall of the Taishou Mansion, so Li Sheng directly changed the spacious square outside the main hall into a banquet venue. When the time came to four o'clock, and the people who participated in the banquet had already arrived, Shi Yi confessed, guided all of them to the second hall, and asked his slaves and maids to quickly change the entire hall of the Taishou Mansion into a banquet mode according to the arrangement that had been rehearsed several times.

At the end of the day, the banquet venue was set up. Then all the guests entered, and sat in their respective seats according to certain conventions, looking forward to the appearance of the young figure above the main seat in the depths of the lobby. Time passed in this waiting, and in the face of such a formal banquet, even some frivolous people in the crowd resolutely did not dare to raise their voices at this time. For a while, the entire hall was solemn, and the atmosphere was slightly depressed.

At noon, a trace of clear bamboo silk gradually became clear from the nothing, and then there were drums and bells, but it was a mountain of ascending peace. Although a dozen candles were lit in the hall, the people outside the hall did not see everything in the hall, and the distance and the smoke of incense curling up prevented them from looking inward. Therefore, they can only listen, they can only wait, waiting for the people inside to make decisions for their future. It's no wonder who let those who let those who sit outside not have strong power, and can only obey those big people inside. The general trend of the world is generally like this, if you can't become a strong man, then you have to obey the strong.

Li Sheng came to the top of the lobby shortly after the music sounded. He first met with the people in this hall, bowed to each other modestly, and then sat down in his seat, and let the Shi Yi, who was sitting on his left hand side, lead the beginning of the banquet.

"I'll see the lord soon!" Shi Yi was so prostrate to meet Li Sheng from the beginning. Although Li Sheng met with the people in this hall as an equal, it was definitely not formal, nor was it a rule. As far as common sense is concerned, Li Sheng, who has already obtained the power of Jiaozhou, is definitely the master, and his own people are regarded as ministers. The lord can treat the minister with a normal heart, which is considered a corporal of courtesy, but the minister must not treat the lord with a normal heart, because it is a bully and arrogant. Therefore, after Li Sheng met with his own people as an equal, Shi Yi was still able to worship Li Sheng, the young lord, as a courtier, as a courtier, at the salute before the start of this banquet. Of course, this is because his current identity is different, and he has to be careful about everything, but at the same time, he also has the idea of subduing the following people - you must know that it is not only Li Sheng and his courtiers who are sitting at this banquet.

For the people who participated in today's banquet, Shi Yi had the idea of "fishing in troubled waters and forcing them to comply". It's just that he made this idea, but it was not reacted to by those people, maybe many of those people also knew, but they still had to follow the general trend of the entire hall. For a while, everyone knelt on the ground and respectfully bowed to Li Sheng, who was sitting on the throne: "We see the lord!" ”

"Shall we see the lord?" Li Sheng, who was made such a fuss by Shi Yi, was taken aback at first, and then came to his senses, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly to reveal a clear smile. "Rise up, everybody." Li Sheng got up calmly, put his hand into the void, and signaled that these people could finish their salutes.

"Thank you, lord!" Shi Yi led the crowd to sing a promise in unison, and then raised his head from the ground and sat down in his place again.

At this time, the maids at the bottom came up with a pot of green grass wine that had just been heated at the back. This is a long time that more than 30 dishes have been filtered in Shijiafu, although there is still a slight sour taste in the mouth, but it is much better than the "good wine" made by ordinary hotels. I saw that they all opened the lid of the wine jug slowly with their hands, and gently poured the slightly cyan wine into the jade wine glass, so that the liquid that exuded a faint aroma of wine rippled slightly in the glass, making people inadvertently intoxicated when they smelled.

"Everyone!" Li Sheng picked up his wine glass and stood up in his position.

For a moment, everyone's eyes in the hall were focused on him. They all listened attentively and knew clearly what this extremely young state pastor wanted to say to themselves. Is it a polite start at the beginning? Or do you want to get straight to the point and say your purpose? This is an absolute caveat. After all, from the content and tone of his words, it is absolutely possible to deduce the temperament and personality of Li Sheng.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as a pastor of Jiaozhou, I am very happy to meet you here. Although most of you and I have some degree of misunderstanding in some places, and some bad things have indeed happened, I think there is nothing that cannot be put down in the face of our glorious future. Let him pass the past, and we should focus on the future. I don't think you, nor I myself, want to let the bloodshed and conflict continue. I'm from Jingnan, and I may not be from Jiaozhou, but I don't think that prevents me from developing this land with you in Jiaozhou. The future is always full of uncertainties, but one thing I can assure you is that Jiaozhou will always be the Jiaozhou of Jiaozhou people. Li Sheng smiled calmly and talked eloquently, and when the words were over, he drank the Qingmao wine in the cup in one gulp: "Everyone, let's drink this cup and work together for the development of Jiaozhou." ”

A high-sounding word, said that the people in the palace, those people of the Shi family, gradually calmed down. Perhaps the doubts and vigilance in their hearts have not completely disappeared, but the meaning expressed by Li Sheng using his own words has made them see where the hope lies. If the small means used by Shi Yi against them just now made them recognize Li Sheng as the "lord" in a daze, which made them a little annoyed, then Li Sheng's opening remarks that could be regarded as a complete recognition of their interests made them disappear from that trace of anger. Compared with the nominal confession of the Lord, the most important thing is to be able to get the benefits in your hands solidly. Although they always like to find a lot of reasons for themselves before they get the benefits, they do do want real interests and admit the humility of face, and they have never been the leaders of Jiaozhou anyway.

By this time, the atmosphere of the banquet had gradually been opened. With Li Sheng's movement and the dancing of the singers below, the banquet, which originally seemed a little depressing, has now become truly like a banquet. I have to say that Shi Yi is a person who is very good at adjusting the atmosphere, and at the moment when Li Sheng was brewing according to the original plan, the singing and harmony of Shi Yi and Kong Ming were lively and directly cultivated from the light song and dance. Because of the reduction of suspicion, everyone slowly showed a little smile on their faces. They gradually opened their minds, or calmly eliminated the food in front of them, or half-squinted to enjoy the harmonious singing and dancing in the lobby, or they were very graceless and focused their eyes on the graceful bodies in the venue. So, in the singing and dancing, in the praise and speech between each other, and in the continuous adjustment of Shi Yina's words, the excitement gradually became hot. Almost everyone felt the temperature that belonged to the banquet.

The banquet continued. Because the atmosphere is warm and the dishes are so rich, that everyone seems to get a little carried away. They ate, drank, laughed, and laughed, but they let go of their minds.

"Uh......h Woo ......" At this eager juncture, the whimper suddenly appeared, although it was not very clear, but the few people closest to Li Sheng really saw Li Sheng's tearful situation.

"What's wrong?" Everyone was surprised. Shi Yi quickly stood up, stretched out his hand and pressed it, the voices inside and outside the hall stopped abruptly, and the maids who were originally singing and dancing here had also retreated. Everyone noticed that something had happened in the hall, some of them had already seen Li Sheng's strangeness, and some of them were still unaware. However, whether it was clear or unclear about all this, they all stopped talking about their own topics and stopped greeting others, and the whole scene fell silent all of a sudden, but it set off Li Sheng's clear and audible crying voice.

"Lord...... Lord...... It is a happy thing to invite everyone to participate in the grand event today, I don't know why the lord is crying? If there is anything wrong with us, please ask the lord to say, don't do such a frightening thing, let me worry. The so-called "Lord worries about the humiliation of the ministers, and the Lord humiliates the ministers to death", seeing Li Sheng crying inexplicably like this, although I don't know what it is, Shi Yi and Kong Ming and several Li Sheng's courtiers were also greatly panicked, and they nervously asked Li Sheng: "What is this for?" "They care about it, at least to outsiders.

"Alas, born in sorrow, died in peace. Although I have taken Jiaozhou right now and am about to be in high spirits, I am still very worried about the danger that is coming. Li Sheng's eyes were red, and he sighed, and kept wiping the tears on his face with the corner of his sleeve as he spoke. His movements were very clear, his voice was very real, and the two sobs that were choked up from time to time at that time made it all very touching.

"It's all my fault that worries the lord!" Seeing Li Sheng like this, Shi Yi hurriedly comforted Li Sheng: "Please relax for a while, although the foreign enemy is strong, it is impossible to hit us all at once." Now that the three alliances have been formed, Liu Bei and Sun Quan can both provide foreign aid for us, such as Cao Cao's generation, it is naturally impossible to directly threaten us. The lord should be able to train soldiers and horses outside, and repair politics internally, and after a few years, the world will be in the hands of the lord. ”

"Alas, there is no need to say more good things, am I the one who only listens to the horse? I understand that this foreign enemy is not enough to fear, in fact, with our tens of thousands of troops, relying on the strategy of Wolong and Fengxiao, even if it can't be said to sweep the world in one go, just say that there is no problem with this land cession and self-protection. In fact, I'm not worried about external enemies at all, I'm worried about internal troubles. For me, internal troubles are definitely more uncomfortable than an invasion by an external enemy. Li Sheng's tears did not dry and told everything in his heart.

"Huh? Civil strife? Everyone suddenly heard Li Sheng's words, and couldn't help but be surprised for a while: "Please also ask the lord to make it clear!" ”

"If a person has no foresight, he will have near-term worries. I am very relieved to all of you who are doing it, and I am also very willing to completely hand over the affairs of Jiaozhou to you. But I believe you, but I can't fully trust your men, you must know that the misunderstanding a while ago was all caused by your subordinates! Of course, you will also say that that is in the past, and that there will never be such a rebellion under my account in the future, and I have promised you not to pursue your past offenses. But as you all know, our side has gained a foothold here because of its strong military strength, and it can be said that it is precisely because of a strong army that I am here today. That's why I'm really worried about one thing, and that's the armies in your hands. Those of yours are completely at your own commands, and they are not within my control. I'm here for now, but I can't keep my forces here forever. If I return north with my troops and completely hand over the affairs of this side to you, maybe there will be a few ambitious people who are staring at my position and thinking of using the forces in their hands to achieve their own opinions. Even if you promise that it won't be, how can you guarantee that the people behind you, the elders in your family, won't do it? People always want to have more after having the same. I can understand your thoughts, but I can't agree with them. Although I was sad because of this, I didn't want to ruin the friendship between you and me, so I cried helplessly. Li Sheng said with a sob, and tears flowed again.

Seeing Li Sheng say this, the people below suddenly realized what Li Sheng was talking about. They immediately understood that what Li Sheng said before the banquet, such as the idea of developing Jiaozhou hand in hand with these people, and completely handing over Jiaozhou to the management of them, were not at all the words that they imagined to formally recognize their privileged interests. Li Sheng wants to weaken the troops in their hands, this is what Li Sheng absolutely has to do, as for giving them rights and letting them control the government affairs of Jiaozhou, etc., it is completely after they hand over their troops. In other words, it was only after they had surrendered their ranks that they could continue to have the privileges assigned to them by Li Sheng—nothing different from what they had learned when they came here.

"Huh, it's not the same? I just wondered how this Lord Li could suddenly turn around and be friendly with us? It turned out that it was just a change of soup and no change of dressing, and the surface work was made better. It really makes us happy in vain. Everyone understood the meaning of Li Sheng's words, and immediately slandered Li Sheng in their hearts. If at the beginning they only regarded Li Sheng as a ferocious tiger, now they absolutely regard Li Sheng as a cunning wolf. Although the roles have changed slightly, they are all about cannibalism, and they all seem to be the same.

"How can you rely on words?" They were silent, but they were secretly cursing Li Sheng in their hearts. To be honest, they are absolutely unwilling to hand over the power in their hands. They wanted to use their own words to refute what Li Sheng said, but they never calculated that the reason that Li Sheng used to collect their weapons was so big.

“…… If I return north with my troops and completely hand over the affairs of this side to you, maybe there will be a few ambitious people who are staring at my position and thinking of using the forces in their hands to achieve their own opinions. Even if you promise that it won't be, how can you guarantee that the people behind you, the elders in your family, won't do it? ......" said this seat clearly, and almost pointed out directly: "I confiscated the private soldiers of your major families because I was worried that you would rebel." ”

"Oh my God!" This is a complete felony, since ancient times, anyone who has been involved with this crime seems to have been sentenced to death. Although the current Li Sheng definitely has nothing to do with the emperor and the prince, everyone knows that in this environment where the world has been divided and the princes have been juxtaposed, Li Sheng, who directly controls his own side of Jiaozhou and southern Jingzhou, is the absolute king of these two places. He can definitely say the same thing in these two places, and if he oppresses his own people with the felony of rebellion, it seems that there is nothing wrong with it. Li Sheng is the "Emperor of the Soil", but this "Emperor of the Soil" is also the "Emperor"!

The words "I'm afraid of your rebellion" scared them a lot.

What to say? How to refute? They don't know very well. Under that heavy hat, the group of persistent people in the hall were obviously frightened: if the private soldiers in their hands were not enough to threaten Li Sheng's rule, then who used the family's men and horses to form a team of 20,000 people to confront Li Sheng? It seems that there have been a lot of battles; If it was just the past, it can be guaranteed that such a thing will never happen now, but Li Sheng has already made it clear, "I believe in you, but I don't believe in those people in your family, those elders who hold power but are stubborn. ”

"But...... It's not uncommon for us to have a big business and need some people to defend our homeland. You should also know that there are many mountains and bandits in Jiaozhou. Someone had the audacity to whisper this reason.

"That's, that's!" The hall suddenly resounded with the sound of harmony. Aside from the arguments that they don't have a ghost in their hearts that they can't even put on the table, the current argument that "they need a force to protect their homeland" has become almost the only reason they can say out loud.

"That's why I agreed to let you keep five hundred private soldiers." Li Sheng said and put down the wine glass in his hand, although the eyes that had cried just now were red and red, the expression on his face was quite calm, and the whole person looked relatively calm, still giving people a feeling of not being angry and arrogant: "Five hundred people say less, say more, not much." I don't think even the big bandits are going to be able to take siege equipment and fight your five hundred garrisons, right? If there really is, then it is no longer a bandit, but a traitor. If there is a real traitor, you people can't stop it, it's a matter of the army. Armies always have to fight to gain experience. It can be said that soldiers are born to fight. If everything is wiped out by your private soldiers, what else do we need the army for? What else do you want the army to do in the county town? It is better to ruin the city and move everyone to your dock forts. Anyway, your dock fort is almost the same as a city. Li Sheng said eloquently.

"This ......" everyone was shocked again. Although they usually don't care so much, and always think about building their own dock fort as high and big as possible, it is also a fact that they have committed the crime of building a private city and trespassing. Of course, if no one mentions this matter, they can also pretend that they don't know anything and make a fortune, but now Li Sheng actually brought up this matter, which has to make them panic. These "sins" are all serious crimes, and although they are generally just following the crowd, they are an excellent excuse for those who have a heart and are powerful. Thinking of Li Sheng's army of tens of thousands, and thinking of Shi Yi, a damned "traitor", everyone felt that if Li Sheng really wanted to send troops to exterminate himself and use that reason to convict his own people, I was afraid that no one would really be able to say anything. After all, it is still the Han Dynasty at the moment, and in terms of name, the people of the Han Dynasty must still follow it, and that article stipulates that the law of the Han Dynasty must be dead: no rebellion, no private construction of cities, and no encroachment.

"What is this going to do?" Thinking that if Li Sheng made a move, it was really possible to justifiably exterminate his family, and everyone couldn't help but panic. Although they were also very sure of using their family power to turn Li Sheng's extermination operation into a quagmire that tightly dragged him into the mountains, that would only be possible if some people had sacrificed themselves. Confronting Li Sheng head-on is a matter that has no result, and they understand this very well, but they have to sacrifice the previous group of people to fall out with Li Sheng like this, and they are absolutely unwilling to do it. "If you want to sacrifice, you have to sacrifice others. Don't sacrifice to me. Such a common idea makes it absolutely impossible for them to unite closely, even if Li Sheng understands that the interests of all of them are violated at the moment.

"What should I do?" Li Sheng laughed slightly, and pretended to be generous: "I'll give you an idea." You have collected all the private soldiers in your hands, and the part that exceeds 500 or more has been given to me, and you have reduced one-third of the land, reduced some rent, and given the common people some way to live. On my side, I have organized all the private soldiers you have collected into a local army, and still let them hold the place for you. Of course, this soldier cannot be stationed in your dock fort, and the salary will not be paid by you, which will also save you a little money. So that you can invest all the spare money in your hands in business, this part of the seafaring trade is for us to develop greatly in the future, and you also know that the money from this place is much better than your hard work. In this way, there will be no loss of profit at all. Of course, no one will ever suspect you or anything. ”

"Is this possible?" Under such circumstances, everyone couldn't help but widen when they heard Li Sheng's reasoning.

"Feasible!" Li Sheng nodded categorically.