Before meeting Ouyang Xiu, Chen Ke had been to the Great Xiangguo Temple once.

He couldn't forget Marshal Di's strong reaction when he first persuaded Di Qing not to accept the position of privy envoy. So Chen Ke must know what kind of mood Di Qing is in at this moment... This directly determines the difficulty of things.

Hearing that Chen Ke was coming, Di Qing was very happy, he smiled heartily, and blamed Chen Ke: "You haven't come to Beijing for half a year, and you don't come to my house to sit, are you still angry with me?" ”

"Yes." Chen Ke nodded, and observed closely, he found that he hadn't seen him for a few years, Di Qing had aged really fast, his sideburns were white, and wrinkles were looming..., the handsome guy at the beginning had become an old handsome guy.

"Hey, this temperament is really big." Di Qing asked him to sit down, and said with a smile: "I heard that you are going to participate in the big competition of this subject, it is better not to come, it is better not to come......

"Am I still here?" Chen Ke said and looked at Di Qing and said, "Marshal, it's been four years, you're a privy envoy, it's enough, right?" ”

"Hey." Di Qing shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I didn't think that we would continue to talk about the same topic after not seeing each other for four years." ”

"But presumably the state of mind of the marshal at the time of the two times is very different." Chen Ke said softly.

"Yes" Di Qing stood up, walked to the door with his back hand, looked at the rain curtain outside and said: "Four years, it is not a long time to say, but for me, it is a sea of vicissitudes, like a world away." ”

Of course, four years ago, he was still the generalissimo who was high-spirited and commanded thousands of troops, what kind of pride and ambition was his life? Four years later, although you are a privy envoy, you are living a ghost-like life, how can you make Di Qing not sigh.

"I'm here because I've heard some bad rumors." Chen Ke didn't talk to him and said bluntly: "The marshal is well versed in the art of war, and he should know that he has fallen into an embattled situation." ”

"......" Di Qing was silent for a long time, and the rain curtain dripped down the eaves on the bluestone-paved steps, constantly splashing and wetting the corners of his clothes.

"Take a step back, marshal, take a step back and open the sky." Chen Ke got up, walked behind him and said, "Your greatness doesn't need a false proof. ”

Chen Ke's words were extremely decent, on the one hand, he warmed his heart: on the other hand, he also reminded Di Qing that you, the privy envoy, are just empty and have authority, and they are all with the prime minister.

If it had been a few months ago, he would definitely not have been able to say such a thing, obviously after so many things in the capital, Chen Ke has gradually matured.

Di Qing's heart was warm when he heard this, but he turned his head, looked at Chen Ke seriously, and said: "Zhong Fang, I know, many people are saying that Di Qing is a light on fame and fortune, what can you do if you throw this official, isn't it easy?" But I can't, I have to be here. His tone trembled a little, and he said word by word: "No matter how difficult it is, I have to be here." ”

"Why?" Chen Ke couldn't understand.

"You don't come from a cheap background, and you don't know how hopeless a life without hope can be. How unfair it is to the soldiers in this world! Di Qing suppressed his indignation and said: "As long as you become a soldier, you will be stamped like an animal, and from then on you will be despised and insulted, and your future will be even darker." ”

His eyes projected the most resolute light, and he said to Chen Ke his deepest buried heart: "Yes, I am indeed alone, there are enemies everywhere, and I live in torment every day. But as long as I am here, I know that the court has this name. Di Qing's voice was very soft, but the words were printed into Chen Gou's mouth and said: "When people have hope, they will forge ahead, and it will be possible to crush injustice For this reason, no matter how difficult it is, I will stay!" ”

"......" Chen Ke's eyes were moist, he never imagined that Di Qing couldn't go to the stack, it was such a reason. The most touching thing in this world is not the rhetoric of politicians, not the tears in the eyes of women, but the noble way, the disobedience to injustice......

He said deeply: "Marshal, Chen Ke is willing to help you!" ”

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After some design, Chen Ke came to Ouyang Xiu and asked the question he had been recommending for a long time: "How will the historian evaluate?" ”

"Historians should write straightforwardly." Ouyang Xiu, a bachelor of Hanlin, is currently working with Song Qi to rebuild the Book of Tang, even if the task of water control is so busy now, he is still very busy, and he is naturally extremely sensitive to this topic every day when he concludes and comments on the history of those historical figures.

"I'm afraid that the teacher will not escape the infamy of the ages." Chen Ke said lightly.

"Oh?" Ouyang Xiu was not annoyed, he was extremely fond of this student, so he would naturally listen to his later words.

"Dare to ask the teacher, when will the "History of the Song Dynasty" be revised?" Chen Ke asked.

"Naturally..." Ouyang Xiu's face changed, and he said in a low voice: "How can you say such unlucky words?" "Naturally, after the fall of the Song Dynasty and the establishment of a new dynasty, the "History of the Song Dynasty" will be revised.

"The teacher is a master of history, and he is revising the "History of the New Five Dynasties", and he is also ordered to revise the "History of the Tang Dynasty". Chen Ke said: "Do you think that there is really an immortal dynasty in this world? ”

"Where will there be a thousand-year-old dynasty...... Ouyang Xiu shook his head and sighed, looked at the vast water, saw a few water birds passing by, and said: "From the Xia Qi family, after having the concept of a country, how many dynasties have you experienced?" What king doesn't want to be eternal? But the country has a gas number. Born at the right time, died of exhaustion, and never spared, how can I, Zhao Song, be an exception? ”

"Then from the teacher's point of view, if the Great Song Dynasty dies, where might the biggest murderer come from?" Chen Ke asked.

This is also in the Great Song Dynasty of free speech, if it were in other dynasties, Mr. Ouyang would have already fanned the melon seeds with big ears, how could he talk to him more: "There are two reasons for the death of the previous dynasties, one is the peasant rebellion, and the other is the usurpation of the throne by the powerful ministers." After a pause, he said: "But I'm a big Song, the situation is a little special..."

"What kind of special law?"

"The biggest threat to my Song family is the invasion of the alien race." Ouyang Xiu said with a worried face: "The Liao Dynasty is too powerful, and now there is another Western Xia, once the two countries join forces, it will be enough for my Han people to lose the country." "Although Ouyang Xiu is a great historian, he could not have expected that the real mortal enemy is not Liao Feixia, but a small tribe that is not yet known to the Song Dynasty.

However, since Taizong, the Song Dynasty has repeatedly defeated foreign war records, the alliance of the army under the city, and the pain brought by Li Yuanhao...... The same kind of shame is not far away, so that even the most optimistic people of the Song Dynasty understand the military weakness of their country, let alone a high-ranking official like Ouyang Xiu.

"One day, when the Song Dynasty dies, the historians of the new dynasty will look back on the reasons for the fall of the previous dynasty like the teacher?" Chen Ke looked at Lao Ouyang fixedly and said: "They must be able to find out that when our Great Song Dynasty army was founded, it was so capable of fighting and destroying countless countries, why did it degenerate to the point that no one could defeat it in just a few decades." What do teachers think about this problem? ”

In the eyes of later generations, Chen Ke's question is nothing new except for boldness, but the people of the Song Dynasty have never tried such reverse thinking. This is the so-called, looking at the problem from another angle, many truths that have never been thought of before appear in Ouyang Xiu's heart.

"......" Ouyang Xiu was deeply shocked, and was silent for a long time, Fang said extremely slowly: "Country... Plan... That's ......"

Ouyang Xiu did not lie in his life, and he was a historian, so he naturally knew very well that the degeneration of the armed forces of the Great Song Dynasty began with Emperor Taizong, who set the national policy of emphasizing literature and suppressing military force.

"The teacher sees it." Chen Ke sincerely complimented him and said from the bottom of his heart: "But I think it starts with the power of civil officials." They want to control everything too much, they want to make the world what they want it to be. After a pause, he was full of mockery: "Yes, they succeeded, and successfully turned the Great Song Dynasty into their paradise, but in this world, there is not only a Song Dynasty, but also the Liao Kingdom, Western Xia, Jiaozhi, Tubo, and many potential threats......

"The harsh national defense environment like my Great Song Dynasty is unique throughout history. But the military generals of my Great Song Dynasty are the most statusless in all dynasties! Even seventy percent of the income of the Great Song Dynasty was invested in military spending, arming all the soldiers to the teeth. Don't the civil servants know? If a sheep leads a lion, will the lion also become a sheep? Chen Ke sneered and said: "I really don't know, what kind of enmity do our civil officials of the Great Song Dynasty have with the country, in this environment surrounded by tigers and wolves, they have to pull out their claws and teeth, what is this not death?" ”

"......" Ouyang Xiu was silent, his face was dark and dark, obviously his heart was extremely uneasy, and he was a little depressed after a while: "Isn't it out of the purpose of protecting Di Hanchen?" ”

"Hey, in this life, there are few things that are misunderstood?" Chen Ke laughed and said: "People who know you naturally believe that you are for his good; But there are still many people who will think that this is just you using rhetoric to expel Di Qing. As he spoke, he said solemnly: "Marshal Di, a famous general with both ability and political integrity, is destined to be famous for eternity, and the teacher must be cautious." ”

"Hmm......" Let Chen Ke say this, Ouyang Xiu found that he was indeed Meng Lang, if he was sparse at this time, it would look like a pioneer for Wen Yanbo, then he really couldn't tell if he had a mouth.

"If Marshal Di goes, there will be three long and two short." Chen Ke added the last handful of firewood and said: "The teacher's eternal wisdom is afraid that it will be ruined." ”

"Stinky boy." Ouyang Xiu's face tightened at first, and then he scolded with a smile: "Dare to scare the old man." ”

"What I said is not a lie." Chen Ke shook his head and said: "If Marshal Di leaves Beijing, there will be more than one luck. ”

"How do you know?" Ouyang Xiu frowned.

There is one more more. (To be continued)