"Hmm!" Liu Cheng nodded: "Sooner or later, since the Nurhachi incident, the consistent strategy is to contact the barbarians and enter the Central Plains. After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, he was one hand to the Mongolian tribes, one hand pulled, if Hudun Tuhan was not destroyed by me, it is estimated that he would sooner or later have to go west, the purpose is very simple, to defeat the Mongolian Khan descendant Hudun Tuhan, so that he can replace him. Now that Hudun Tuhan has been killed by me, it is estimated that he will go on an expedition to the steppe next to force the Mongolian tribes to support him as the Khan of the tribes! “

"So, how is that good?" Hu Kejian paused and said: "Why don't you cross the Yellow River after you go back, General Liu, and defend by the river?" ”

"Guarding by the river?" Liu Cheng was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the other party wanted to retreat the army to the west of the Yellow River by himself, and only defend the Qiantao area. He shook his head and smiled: "Gonggong Hu, this is not good?" ”

"Can't do it? Then retreat to the side wall, and if you can't do it, retreat to Guyuan City, this is always okay, right? ”、

Liu Cheng made Hu Kejian cry and laugh: "Father-in-law Hu, I'm not saying that I can't hold it, but that I can't retreat to the west of the Yellow River like that, and it is not okay to just keep the front set!" “

"No, what do you say?"

"Gonggong Hu, if you follow what you said, retreat to Hexi, then give up the rich water and grass lands of Dongtao, Xitao, and Tumut River to the Mongolian tribes that are dependent on the Dongyu, then what about the Tumut and Chahar tribes that are now surrendered to us? Without grazing water, how can they feed their livestock? How to multiply? As a result, they either defected to the east, or they rebelled because they had no food and clothing. What's more, the purpose of Dongyu's trip was not to break the gap, but to win over the Mongol tribes and force them to recognize Huang Taiji as their Great Khan. If we flee without a fight, what will the Mobei and Monan tribes think? Wouldn't they all throw themselves into the universe of Huang Taiji for him to drive? “

"So, what is General Liu going to do?"

"Fight!" Liu Cheng said with a smile: "If Huang Taiji comes, it is impossible to bring a lot of soldiers, and it is impossible to stay here for too long, after all, his roots are still in Liaodong, as long as he frustrates his troops and lets the troops see that I have the strength to fight, naturally it will not be one-sided, and the rest is to win over both sides of the game, and Dongyu will definitely not be able to compare with me in this regard!" ”

Seeing Liu Cheng's confident expression, Hu Kejian's expression was very complicated, he sighed and said: "What you said is just a little reasonable, no matter how troublesome the thieves are, it is always a trivial matter compared to the East Captives, a few days ago, someone in the court said that since you have pacified the Mongolian tribes, why don't you transfer a few Mongolian iron horsemen to the mainland to quell the thieves?" With the strategy of captives attacking thieves, no matter who dies, it is beneficial to the country! ”

Hearing Hu Kejian's words, Liu Cheng couldn't help but scold this person for his lack of virtue in his abdomen, and hurriedly persuaded him: "By all means, these newly descended people, their kindness and righteousness are not finished, they are all tigers and wolves, if they are allowed to come to the Central Plains, they are afraid of poisoning the people, which will backfire!" “

"Hehe, General Liu thought of going with Mr. Wen!" Hu Kejian laughed: "The Son of Heaven was also a little moved when he heard it at first, but Mr. Wen said that this is the medicine of the tiger and wolf, Tang Xizong pardoned Li Keyong's crimes, and broke the Yellow Nest with his soldiers, but it also hurt the vitality of the country. ”

"Mr. Wen?" Liu Cheng was stunned when he heard this, he was promoted too quickly, and he was leading troops to fight in the northwest, so he didn't know much about the officials in the imperial court, and he couldn't remember who Mr. Wen Hu Kejian said for a while.

"Oh, it's the scholar of the Ministry of Rites, the scholar of the East Pavilion University, Wen Tiren Wen Changqing, his position in the pavilion is second only to Mr. Zhou Yanru Zhou!"

"Wen Tiren? It's him? When Liu Cheng heard this name, he immediately remembered that not long ago, when Li Dongguo asked him for help, he had mentioned that his master was the second assistant in the court, and he also asked himself to bring a letter over, but he didn't expect to hear it here. Hu Kejian saw Liu Cheng's thoughtful look, and thought that he was still thinking about this matter, so he smiled and said: "Actually, the one who wrote to suppress thieves with Mongolian soldiers is also your acquaintance." ”

"My acquaintance? Who's that? How can I know anyone in the court? “

"It is Yang He's son, Yang Sichang, Lord Yang, who has made meritorious contributions to inspecting Xuanfu and Datong military affairs, and has just been promoted to the military department. Presumably he wants to borrow your forces to pacify the thieves and shame Father Snow! ”

Liu Cheng nodded and didn't speak, he also felt that Hu Kejian's judgment was quite reasonable. Judging from the general values at that time, Yang He can be said to have the grace of reinvention for himself, and his son-in-law as his own leader will inevitably make himself fight to the death. Yang He was convicted because of the failure of the thief, if Yang Sichang completes the great cause of the thief, Chongzhen is likely to use the merit of the son to exempt Yang He from his previous crimes, which will be rumored to be a beautiful talk of loyalty and filial piety in ancient times. It's just that all this is too wishful thinking in the eyes of Liu Cheng, a modern person.

The two talked and chatted, but suddenly found that the road ahead came to an end, in front of which was a rather dilapidated attic, there was a pagoda in front of the door, and a plaque was hung on the attic, which read "Min Zhong Pavilion" three big characters. Looking at the shape of the pagoda, it doesn't look like the building at that time.

"Why the name? Isn't this temple called Chongfukuji Temple? Liu Cheng asked.

"The general doesn't know!" Hu Kejian seemed to be very familiar: "This Chongfu Temple was originally called Minzhong Temple, and this name was changed in the second year of orthodoxy in this dynasty!" “

"Oh? Why change it? ”

This temple was built in the 19th year of Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty, when Emperor Taizong sent troops to conquer Goguryeo, and many soldiers died in the king's affairs. Later generations may have been damaged, and they were all rebuilt. At the end of the previous dynasty, the temple was destroyed by the war, until the orthodox years of this dynasty, Emperor Yingzong issued an edict to rebuild this temple, and the title of the Son of Heaven was changed to Chongfu Temple! “

"I see!" Liu Cheng listened to Hu Kejian's explanation, and couldn't help laughing: "Grandpa Hu is really knowledgeable, and he even knows these details!" ”

"Huh!" Hu Kejian heard Liu Cheng's praise, and suddenly laughed: "General Liu, although this Chongfu Temple was rebuilt by Emperor Yingzong, the specific operation is the predecessor of our family, the eunuch Song Gonggong who was the master of ceremonies at that time took the lead in donating a lot of silver, the great achievements of the predecessors, how can we not keep it in mind as the juniors?" ”

"Hahaha!" When Liu Cheng heard this, he couldn't help but laugh dumbly, feeling that this Chongfu Temple was built under the auspices of a group of eunuchs, which sounded very weird. But after thinking about it, isn't the eunuch the most convenient and handy person to do things around the emperor? Although these eunuchs have a bad reputation, they can run such a large system as the inner court, and naturally they have considerable practical experience and money, so they are really the best candidates.

Hu Kejian saw Liu Cheng's strange expression, and thought that the other party was a little unconvinced, so he continued: "Speaking of which, many temples in the capital are maintained by the father-in-law at the expense of others, there is no way, we eunuchs have no heirs, and we have to find a place to rest and retire when we are old, so we donate some money in the temple, and there is a place to retire when we are old!" At this, he sighed, his expression a little sad.

Liu Cheng listened to Hu Kejian's words, and couldn't help but sigh, as the saying goes, "a hundred good filial piety comes first", "no filial piety has three, no queen is great", in the eyes of ancient Chinese, giving birth to heirs, continuing the incense is the minimum condition for honoring parents, and filial piety is the source of all good virtues, so self-mutilation, eunuchs who have no offspring are born with moral disadvantages. Even if someone like Hu Kejian has climbed to the pinnacle of the eunuch group, in fact, the evening scene is very bleak, and there is no joy in teasing Sun Zhi, so he can only be accompanied by the Green Lantern Ancient Buddha and die alone, and this is already better than the vast majority of eunuchs to the sky.

Thinking of this, Liu Cheng made a gesture, signaled the guards behind him to retreat into the distance, and whispered to Hu Kejian: "Father-in-law Hu, if you don't dislike it, why don't you and I become brothers of the opposite sex?" In the future, you will be my child's uncle, and you can come to my house when you are old, and he will naturally support you in your old age! ”

"This-" Hu Kejian was stunned when he heard this, and then his face showed joy: "This, this is not very good!" ”

"What's not good, could it be that Gonggong Hu feels that the status of the last general is lowly and has climbed high?"

"So, how could that be? It's just that General Liu is going to be a marquis sooner or later, and I-" Hu Kejian stopped here when he said this, but both of them understood what he didn't say. Liu Cheng smiled, grabbed the other party's arm, knelt down in front of the pagoda, and said in a deep voice: "Under Liu Cheng, today I am willing to marry Hu Kejian and Hu Gonggong as brothers with different surnames, and share blessings and misfortunes. After speaking, he kowtowed to the pagoda three times.

Liu Cheng's somewhat abrupt actions startled Hu Kejian, he wanted to excuse himself, but when he saw Liu Cheng's kowtow, the words came to his mouth and swallowed back.

"It's okay, thanks to General Liu's refusal to give up today, our family will overstep." Speaking of this, Hu Kejian paused slightly: "Our Hu Kejian, I am willing to marry Liu Cheng as brothers with different surnames, share blessings and misfortunes, please Buddha and Bodhisattva are here as proof, if there is a violation of the oath, heaven and earth will not tolerate!" With that, he also kowtowed three times to the stupa.

Liu Cheng saw Hu Kejian saluting, and hurriedly helped him up, and the two looked at each other and smiled. Hu Kejian said: "Originally, it was a big deal to worship brothers, but it was a little hasty, but since ancient times, the handover of the inner court and the military generals has been taboo, do you understand?" ”

"Brother, please rest assured, the younger brother understands, only you and I know today's affairs, God knows, and no third party knows!" Liu Cheng smiled: "But the younger brother still wants to bother his brother for something." ”

"Brother Xian, please speak, as long as the foolish brother can do it, he will definitely do it for you!" At this time, the relationship between Hu Kejian and Liu Cheng was very different, and the tone in which he and Liu Cheng spoke was naturally much more intimate.

"It's this Compassion Pavilion!" Liu Cheng pointed to the dilapidated attic and pagoda in front of him, and said in a deep voice: "Brother, this place is supposed to commemorate the heroic souls who sacrificed their lives for the country in the past thousand years, but it is so dilapidated, and the younger brother is also a martial artist, and I can't help but feel a little sad when I see it." Originally, I wanted to pay for the temple to repair it, but I was short of time in the capital, and I didn't know what taboos there were, so I was afraid of causing trouble. The elder brother is familiar with the door of the Beijing Division, and he has a wide range of hands, so please take the lead in repairing this Compassion Pavilion to pay tribute to the soldiers who died in the north, and the younger brother will naturally send someone to offer the required expenses! “

"So that's it!" Hu Kejian was still a little worried about what trouble it was, but at this time, he was completely relieved, patted his chest and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Brother Xian, this matter is wrapped up in Brother Foolish, and you don't need to pay for it, I will find an opportunity to say a sentence on the premise of the saint, and naturally someone will contribute money and efforts." “

"There are also a lot of soldiers under the command of the younger brother who died in the king's affairs, after going back, let people copy a name and place of origin, if there are ashes also sent together, then leave a name in front of this Buddha Pavilion, build a pagoda to store it, and pay tribute to incense on the New Year's Day every month, they fight for the country, and they can't let them expose the corpse in the wilderness, be a lonely ghost and a wild ghost! These all cost money, brother, don't shirk! “

Hearing Liu Cheng's words, Hu Kejian's expression also became serious, and he nodded: "Since this is the case, then I don't have to shirk it, please rest assured, I will definitely do this beautifully!" Leave a good story for future generations! “

"Thank you, brother!" Liu Cheng bowed to Hu Kejian, Hu Kejian knew that this was the meaning of toefl to himself, and he also accepted Liu Cheng's bow. At this time, there was a quarrel not far away, and it sounded like Liu Cheng's personal guard. Liu Cheng frowned, and said to Hu Kejian: "Brother, I don't know what happened, let's go and see!" “

The two walked towards the voice, only to see six or seven monks blocked by Liu Cheng's personal soldiers on the side of the road, arguing with them, Liu Cheng hurriedly walked over and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"My lord, they claimed to be monks in the temple, and they said that they wanted to come to see you and Grandpa Hu, so-"

Hearing this, Liu Cheng nodded, he and Hu Kejian met at this time is not very light, this Chongfu Temple is a famous jungle in Beijing, the host of the temple must have seen a lot of dignitaries, if he sees the flaw, it will cause a lot of trouble. He turned to Hu Kejian and said, "Brother, it's better for the younger brother to let someone escort you away first, and I will deal with these monks!" ”

"It's good!" Hu Kejian is also a smart person, and immediately understood what Liu Cheng meant, and Liu Cheng said to the pro-soldier: "You take two people." Send Grandpa Hu back to the palace! ”

"Yes, sir!"

Liu Cheng watched Hu Kejian disappear behind the pagoda in the Minzhong Pavilion, before turning around, walking up to the group of monks, and asking, "What's the matter?" ”

When the monk at the head saw Liu Cheng's speech and bearing, he immediately saw that he was the leader of the crowd, and hurriedly smiled: "The poor monk Xuanci is the deacon of the temple, and he heard that the steward said that a noble person was coming, so he hurried over to lead the way, but he didn't want to be stopped by his family, so there was a conflict. (To be continued.) )