Seeing that the maidservants in the hall began to serve tea back and forth, Li Yuan smiled lightly, if the co-author couldn't explain it and didn't even give him a cup of tea, the old man was really jealous and hateful this week!

Fang just said it, and he was indeed a little thirsty and anxious, Li Yuan gently picked up the teacup and stared at the heavily colored tea in the cup for a while, but he was a little curious, why is this tone a bit like a sauce? I took a sip and almost didn't squirt! It's a little spicy in the mouth, and there's a salty taste of coarse salt, what's that?

Li Yuan tried hard to swallow the tea in his mouth, so he had to swallow it reluctantly in order not to look foreign. Then I suddenly remembered, there is really nothing wrong with it, the tea of this era is all crushed tea leaves, supplemented by onions, ginger and garlic cooking seasoning, and even candied mutton fat, it is really boiled tea.

And the fragrant drinking method in later generations was not popular until at least the Ming Dynasty...... (Note: Before the Ming Dynasty, there were three main ways of cooking tea: "porridge tea method", "tea soup" and "end tea method", which were extremely cumbersome and exquisite, and were mostly popular in the upper strata of society; After the Ming Dynasty, due to Zhu Yuanzhang's order to prohibit the production of high-grade tea cakes, the loose tea method of directly roasting tea leaves and pouring water into tea to drink appeared and gradually became popular. ）

Seeing that Li Yuan's face was flushed and he couldn't speak for a long time, Zhou Zong glanced at it, and hurriedly raised his hand and said, "Li Yuhou is not used to drinking tea?" Look at the old man's brain, Li Yuhou was born in the army, and he is a good drink! Come on, bring the best autumn brew in the house! ”

Li Yuan waved his hand and said, "There's no need for wine!" I have already eaten a lot at the banquet, so if it's convenient, just give me a cup of tea! ”

Zhou Zong's eyes moved upwards for a while, and he said thoughtfully: "Clear tea!" Haha, this is unusual, the old man has never seen anyone drink tea! Okay, just follow the words of Yu Hou and serve the tea! ”

The maidservant quickly complied with the instructions and re-served Li Yuan a cup of steaming tea, this time without adding any condiments, but the tea was still crushed according to the rules, so that Li Yuan spit out a mouthful of tea foam when he took a sip, so it was not funny.

While sipping tea, Zhou Zong said tentatively: "I don't know what Yu Hou thinks of today's court?" ”

Li Yuan chewed the broken tea leaves in his mouth, and said with a smile unhurriedly: "I am a military general, and I still don't know much about the affairs of the court." I'm afraid that if I say it, it will make the old man laugh. ”

"Here in the old man, Yu Hou can speak freely, no scruples!"

"Okay, that's going to be done!" Li Yuan doesn't care, now that Zhou Zong has shown favor to himself, why not do it, after thinking about it, he talked eloquently: "I am from the army, and I can only talk about the war." ”

"Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, although I have the heart to dominate the world, I have made several foreign expeditions, but the results are not satisfactory! When the Fujian State was conquered, it was already a success, but because of Chen Jue's greed for merit and overbearing, he delayed the fighter plane, so that our army fell into Fujian, and finally not only lost Fujian, but also let Wu Yueguo reap the benefits! The treasury of the Tang Dynasty is also empty because of this, which is really worth the loss and sad! ”

How could Zhou Zong not know about this matter, at that time, Chen Juejiao's great rebellion caused an uproar in the government and the opposition, and since then, the army has been defeated again and again, thinking of this, he can only sigh with his hands: "Alas! ”

Li Yuan put down the teacup, and then said: "What is even more sad is that at that time, it was the Central Plains chaos, the Khitan went south, the Jin Kingdom overturned, and the people were displaced. That's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! It's a pity that at that time, our dynasty was already trapped under the city of Fuzhou, and then Wu Yue sent troops to disturb him, and he was powerless, and finally called Liu Zhiyuan in Hedong to take advantage! ”

It seemed that he had said something in Zhou Zong's heart, but the old man responded excitedly: "What Li Yuhou said is exact!" At that time, if His Majesty hadn't believed in Chen Jue's party, Fujian would have been pacified, and maybe there would still be enough strength to send troops to the Central Plains! Alas! The sky doesn't help me Datang! ”

Li Yuan shook his head disappreciatively, and then said seriously: "Everything is man-made, how can you blame the sky!" For example, in the affairs of Fujian, it can be seen that there are no unscrupulous generals outside, traitorous ministers inside, and the Son of Heaven is negligent! If this continues, the disaster of national destruction is not far away! ”

Zhou Zong's face was flustered, and he hurriedly looked out of the door, and then waved his hand and said, "Li Yu is cautious!" If it weren't for Song Qiqiu, Chen Jue and others who were embarrassed and occupied the dynasty, how could our dynasty be like this? Your Majesty, Your Majesty is also helpless! ”

Having said that, Zhou Zong didn't know what the emperor did, and couldn't help but think of the Chen Jue incident at that time, he thought that the emperor would be furious and beheaded these villains, but Chen Jue, Feng Yanlu and others were only sentenced to exile, while Han Xizai and others, who were outspoken, were criticized.

Li Yuan pondered for a moment, and then said bluntly: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, so naturally you don't dare to speculate on the holy will!" Song Qiqiu and Chen Jue's party only know how to fight for power and profit and chaos in the court! For example, Chen Jue is in charge of the Privy Council but does not know soldiers! Cha Wenwei is known as a famous general, but he was captured by Wu Yue Xiaoguo! He will go south with the army of the northern country, and if my Tang Dynasty is still in charge of these incompetent people, the country will definitely fall, and there will be no return! ”

This threat theory of the death of the country frightened Zhou Zong so much that he didn't jump up on the spot, but he couldn't help but ask in a low voice with curiosity: "The army of the northern country is going south?" Where did Li Yuhou get the news? Don't speculate! That Zhou Guo Guo Wei sent an envoy to our court, and his words were very friendly. Moreover, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there has always been no dispute with the Central Plains, how can there be a war? ”

Li Yuan replied without hesitation: "Now that Guo Wei has just established the country, there are still stars in the country that have not yet been rebellious, of course, there is no time to take care of anything else. But I heard that before Guo Wei became emperor, the old and young in the family were killed by Liu Chengyou, the lord of the Han Dynasty, and the heirs were killed. And he has an adopted son under his knees, named Chai Rong. This man is both civil and military, aiming to dominate the world, if he becomes the emperor another day, he will definitely go south! ”

"Chai Rong?" Zhou Zong's mansion has been in contact with northern merchants from time to time, and he does have some impressions of this name, and then muttered: "This old man has heard of it, and he is outstanding among Guo Wei's adopted sons, and he is also quite popular with the people. It's just that Guo Wei has ascended to the throne, and there are concubines in the harem, if he gives birth to a parent, Chai Rongke may not be able to inherit the unification! ”

"It's not enough to say anything about it! After all, Guo Wei is nearly fifty years old, and he will have a dark disease after many years of fighting, as for whether Chai Rong can succeed to the throne, it is predicted that in less than five years, Lord Zhou can wait and see! ”

Li Yuan read silently in his heart, saying that it has been more than five years, and three years later, Chai Rong's ruthless man will take the throne, and the slogan of "opening up the world in ten years, raising the people in ten years, and bringing peace in ten years" came out, I'm afraid it won't scare you to death......

Zhou Zong still looked noncommittal, and said suspiciously: "Whether Chai Rong can succeed to the throne is not said for the time being, even if he becomes the emperor, he may not go south, right?" All the countries in the world stand side by side, why do you send troops to my Tang Dynasty alone? ”

Alas, this Southern Tang monarch is really too comfortable, and in the second year of Chai Rong's accession to the throne, your Yangzhou will be gone......

But some words are still difficult to say, Li Yuanyuan patiently explained: "Of course, my Datang is not the only goal. The boss might as well think about the current situation of the Zhou State, since the loss of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the Khitan Tiger and Wolf have already grown up, and the Zhou State will not be easy to provoke. The so-called easy first and then difficult, if you can't go north, you must go south! Those bordering the Zhou State are none other than the Shu Kingdom, Nanping and my Tang Dynasty.

The lord of Shu is weak, but according to natural danger, he can still resist for a while; The land of Nanping is small, and it is a matter of time before it falls, so it is needless to say; And I, the Tang Dynasty, occupy a place in Jianghuai, the country is rich and the people are good, how can the Zhou State let it go? There are many iron cavalry fierce generals in the north, and you can step on Huainan in an instant and drink the Yangtze River! ”

Zhou Zong said unceremoniously: "Even if he goes south in the Zhou Kingdom, our dynasty also has generals and soldiers who can fight!" Why fear him? ”

Li Yuan secretly admired it, as the history books said, this Zhou Zong was an unwavering loyal minister from beginning to end, otherwise he would not have given his two daughters to Empress Li......

Thinking of his daughter, Li Yuan clapped his hands inexplicably excitedly and said, "Okay, so courageous!" The boss is worthy of being a loyal minister who has followed the first emperor! My Datang naturally has good generals, such as Liu Renzhan and Liu Du, but the people in charge are Chen Jue's ministers who bully the weak and are afraid of the hard, no matter how many good generals there are, where can they be useful? If the army of the Northern Kingdom swept down, what did the old man think Chen Jue would do? ”

"You mean, they will surrender to treason?!"

Li Yuan thought of Chen Jue's faces, and said with contempt: "It's not enough to surrender, after all, these people's families are still in my Datang, even if they want to surrender, they don't dare to do it." Zhou Guo doesn't look down on them either! ”

"Don't forget, my lord, these people are the best at figuring out the Sacred Heart. Your Majesty is so martial, they will definitely fight! Chen Jue likes to be a military supervisor the most! As long as he doesn't die, even if he is defeated, it doesn't matter, just like the last time in Fujian, Chen Jue bullied the monarch and overbearing, and His Majesty only gave a light sentence of demotion, and soon he was reinstated. Therefore, in their eyes, even if the army is defeated and loses land, as long as they live, it will be fine, and His Majesty will not punish him heavily. ”

Zhou Zong was already gasping out of his snot, and shouted: "Mislead the country!" Traitors have misled the country! ”

Seeing Zhou Zong's indignant appearance, Li Yuan felt a little unbearable in his heart, and wanted to tell this old man who was nearly seventy years old but still loyal that in a few years the Southern Tang Dynasty would face the defeat of the land reparation, but he still tentatively revealed: "The old man doesn't have to be angry!" Xu is already saying that my Tang Dynasty has the Yangtze River, even if Zhou Bing goes south, he will not be able to come, and the rivers and mountains will not be overturned, at most the fourteen states of Huainan will not be wanted. ”

"Ahem! Huainan is the land of the first emperor's hidden dragon, Yin is rich and rich, it is the capital of my Tang Dynasty, how can I give it to people! (Note: Li Yu, the founding emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was originally from Xuzhou, and was adopted by Wu Taizu Yang Xingmi in Haozhou when he was a child, and then transferred to the powerful minister Xu Wen to raise)

Li Yuan wisely retracted, arched his hand and said, "This is nature!" The so-called anticipation of the enemy first, if Huainan can have elite soldiers to defend it, it is the best! ”

The topic was so heavy that there was no word in the room for a long time, and both of them were thinking in their own moods.

For a moment, Zhou Zong seemed to ease up, and his face was full of admiration: "I heard Li Yuhou's words today, the old man was sweating profusely, and his thoughts were like sitting on pins and needles!" As Yu Hou said, be prepared for danger in times of peace, and I can worry about it! Please Li Yu wait to be worshiped by the old man! ”

Li Yuan hurriedly waved his hand and refused: "Lord Zhou, please get up!" Don't do it again! It is said that I am also in love with Mr. Zhou, I bought the house of the Zhou family in Jinling City, and today I talked with the adults, and I am already content in the next! ”

Zhou Zong said coldly: "The old man dared to ask Li Yuhou's family affairs, did he marry a wife and have children?" ”

Li Yuan didn't think much about it, and replied truthfully: "I just turned twenty in Xia and haven't started a family yet. ”

"The old man has a daughter under his knees, fifteen years old, although she was born in the stepfamily, but her appearance and conduct are still good. Oh, you should have seen it when Yu Hou bought my house in Jinling before. Can Yu Hou be intentional? ”

Is this what you mean by marrying Emperor Zhou E? Li Yuan's heart jumped suddenly, he didn't expect that what he wanted in his heart would come so quickly, and he glared and said, "Boss, this ......"

Seeing that Li Yuan was choked with words, Zhou Zong smiled calmly: "It's okay, Li Yu waits but can be blunt!" The old man also knows that my little girl has a delicate temperament, and it is normal for Yu Hou to look down on her. ”

Li Yuan was very anxious in his heart, how could I refuse, I was so excited that I couldn't speak! hurriedly explained: "No, Master Zhou! Born in the countryside, how dare you dislike it? Miss Zhou is generous, beautiful, and well-versed in family affairs, which can be called a good blue heart, and she really admires it! I'm just afraid, I'm just afraid that Miss won't want to marry me! ”

Zhou Zong's eyes lit up, and his forehead became several horizontal folds with a smile, and he nodded again and again: "Eh! Li Yuhou is a young hero, both civil and military, and his appearance, conduct, and talent are all dragons and phoenixes among people! If Yu Hou can see it, it is my little girl who has climbed high! Li Yuhou rest assured, since ancient times, the marriage is the order of the parents, the old man immediately went to a letter, and when Yu Hou returned, we will discuss the marriage? ”

Li Yuan was flattered and exclaimed, "So fast?!" ”

Zhou Zong hurriedly slapped his forehead and responded: "Eh, it's the old man who didn't think it through!" Yu Hou can discuss with his parents first, and then reply to the old man is not too late......"

Referring to his parents, Li Yuan was silent, and then replied sincerely: "I have lost my parents since I was a child, and this time I went to Chuzhou to take my adoptive mother to Jinling to enjoy happiness, and she must have no opinion on being able to marry a high-ranking family like the Zhou family!" ”

Zhou Zong showed more appreciative eyes, directly got up and grabbed Li Yuan's arm, and said enthusiastically: "Li Yu is famous, but he does not forget the grace of nurturing!" Okay, it's her blessing that the little girl can marry Yu Hou! If it is convenient for Lingtang, when Yu Hou returns to Beijing and passes through Yangzhou, the old man will open the door of the mansion to greet him, and the two families will just discuss this matter! ”

At this time, he was overjoyed, and as soon as Li Yuan thought of Emperor Zhou E's beautiful shadow, he smiled from ear to ear: "Then thank Master Zhou, oh no, thank you father-in-law for your love!" At this time, somehow a fourteen-year-old boy appeared in his mind, and the big wronged person looked confused, and it was funny to think about it......

This kid is very clever! Zhou Zong couldn't help but slander at the same time, he was also quite happy, holding Li Yuan's hand and saying straightly: "Okay, good!" Then it's settled! I can't imagine that the old man is so old that he can get such a virtuous son-in-law, not in vain in this life, not in vain in this life! ”

Today's trip was a whim, and I never thought that there would be such a big harvest! Not only was he appreciated by Zhou Zong, the founding father, but he also unexpectedly gained the Emperor Zhou E that he had in mind!

Li Yuan unconsciously began to feel emotional, but when he first met him in the courtyard that day, there was some friction at first, but then he asked Qiu'er to send some maidservants, so his impression of himself must not be much worse? Will she marry me?

Seeing that he had stayed in this left-behind mansion for a long time, and if he didn't go out, Luo Erhu was afraid that he would come in. Li Yuan said with satisfaction: "Then father-in-law, the son-in-law will leave first, and the soldiers are still waiting at the post station, I have to go back as soon as possible and go to Chuzhou to pick up the old lady as soon as possible!" ”

Now that they are about to become a family soon, Zhou Zong nodded reasonably: "I wanted to keep you to talk a little longer, but since this is the case, the old man will not delay you!" Virtuous son-in-law, the old man will send you personally! ”

Li Yuan smiled: "Then there is Father-in-law Lao!" ”