Lantian County.

Lu's compound.

Lu Dafang sat alone in the courtyard, it was almost autumn, the northwest time the sky was clear, the sky was high and the clouds were clear, and he was between heaven and earth, as if his soul was cleansed.

But former ruling minister Lu Dafang did not feel this way. Since escorting the coffin of the Empress Dowager Xuanren out of the funeral after the New Year, he left the court and returned to his hometown. It seems that everyone has forgotten this former left minister. The term of office was self-destructive in Lantian's hometown, but Lu Dafang knew that there were some things that could not be avoided, and if the derogatory decree did not come for a day, his heart would hang for a day.

Although Lu Dafang is said to be the former prime minister, he is also the spiritual protector minister of the Empress Dowager Xuanren, and the scholar of the Guanwen Palace, on the first day that the Fa-changers entered the court, he knew that these old courtiers were going to make room for Zhang Dun and them. But people always have luck in their hearts, and Lu Dafang also hopes that the emperor can take care of the faces of these old ministers and give them preferential treatment.

In the Northwest, after the conservative banner was simply disparaged, he gave up hope.

Fan Chun's brother Fan Chunren is still in the capital, and he can't keep his family, and Lu Dafang's popularity is not as good as Fan Chunren's, and it is a matter of time before he is degraded.

As the old courtiers were assigned one by one, he also knew that he might be the next one.

I used an excuse to delay for a while, but now that Hao Sui, a close confidant of the emperor, has come to Shaanxi, Lu Dafang is sure that Hao Sui must bring the holy decree given to him by the emperor.

But he is a dignified scholar, sitting in the courtyard of his hometown in a daze and making salted fish, which is not a thing.

If it is really forgotten by everyone, for Lu Dafang, it is more terrible than derogation. Because even if you are unlucky in a short period of time, there is always a chance to return to the court. But if it is forgotten, it means that his decades of career are useless.

When he was thinking about it, his son Lu Jingshan hurriedly walked over, even though he was in a hurry, Lu Jingshan still walked out of a sense of rhythm, which seemed to be smooth and smooth.

The Lantian Lu family, although it is not as good as the Laizhou Lu family, but in the northwest, it is a first-class wealthy family.

The children of the family have been nurtured by several generations of eunuchs, and they are all noble sons with the bearing and ability of their nobles. Lu Jingshan is his valued son, and he is also the son who follows him. The bureaucrats of the Great Song Dynasty, especially the high-ranking officials, preferred to take their sons with them to listen to them, rather than being trusted slaves. Maybe this has something to do with the slave contract of the Great Song Dynasty, but speaking of which, who else in the world can be trusted more than his son?

"Father, the angel is coming!"

Lu Jingshan bowed down and stood beside Lu Dafang before he spoke, his tone was calm without a trace of panic. I don't know, do you think Lu Dafang is still the prime minister?

Lu Dafang looked up at the sky, it seemed to be restricted by the courtyard, the sky was square, and he could only see a small part, and his mood suddenly became low: "The autumn of people hurts their spirits!" ”

"Open the middle door and welcome the angels."

"Father, don't you really want to go to the capital to discuss with Uncle Su? Maybe then your business will turn around. ”

Lu Jingshan's words are not unreasonable, Su Zhe is very miraculous that he is still in the official position of deputy minister, although the situation is very bad, but I am afraid that what is even worse is Zhang Dian, Cai Bian, Li Qingchen and others, Su Zhe is a thorn in their side, dangling in front of him all day long, this mood can be imagined, and it will not be smooth. As long as Lu Dafang is lucky, maybe he can stay, and then there will be no Su Zhe in the court, but the two ministers of Yuan You and the rebellious ministers and thieves of the law changer.

With the addition of an old dragon bell Su Song, and a good person Fan Chunren everywhere, maybe the situation can be reversed.

But Lu Dafang shook his head and said: "If the old man doesn't do in vain, your Uncle Su will also be unable to protect himself." Recruiting Li Qingchen and others from the official family to Beijing, we, the old courtiers, will have to stand aside. Rushing up at this time can only make the official family more embarrassed, and even think that he is deliberately targeting him, thus angering the official family. The old man has low ability, but he doesn't do that nuisance. ”

I have to say that the boldness of the Northwest people is fully revealed in Lu Dafang, he does not be a vassal, he does not do anything against his wishes, he is unwilling to compromise on these two things, and can only go-for-tat with Zhang Dian and others.

The court discussion is not terrible, and besides, if Zhang Dian really wants to discuss the court, he will lose very badly.

Mouth cannon, the law changer is not one. Wang Anshi, Cai Qu, and Zhang Dun's records were all defeated. But the problem is that the emperor doesn't hold a court at all, so they don't have any chance.

Now the emperor's attitude has blatantly supported the law-changing faction, unless Lu Dafang turns to the law-changing faction, but if he really does this, he will even look down on himself.

Lantian Lu, greet the angels.

In the past, the Lu family would encounter this kind of thing once or twice a year. It is nothing more than the glory of giving the ancestors of the Lu family and the gift of the Holy Lord. But this time it was completely different, and the entire Lu clan was shrouded in gloom.

Lu Dafang's identity is naturally a little more upright, he is not particularly enthusiastic, but he will not make people find faults.

"Hao Sui, it's time for you to rise up now, right?"

Hao Sui's piled up smile froze, which pot is not opened, which pot is raised, and then he was kicked to the northwest by the official. Such an experience, for the eunuchs, is equivalent to being driven out of the palace in disgrace. The eunuchs are also divided into the inner court and the outer court, and the inner court naturally lives in the imperial palace with the emperor and the masters, although there are not many opportunities to make oil and water, but there are many opportunities to enjoy grace, and the status is much more noble than that of the outer court.

The outer court is unlucky, there are all over the Great Song Dynasty, and there are many mine supervisors, tax supervisors, military supervisors, and so on.

Even if it is a eunuch of the same level, the eunuchs of the outer court always have to give a filial piety to the eunuchs of the inner court every New Year's holiday, in order to win over the relationship. You can know the difference between the inner and outer courts.

Hao followed the bully who used to take filial piety, but became a filial piety to the people, and if he said too much, tears could make him fall out. Especially after leaving Beijing, he also met an unreliable Li Kui, who was stunned to seize power.

If you change the prison army, it is simply impossible.

But Li Kui is different, this product is a civil official, and his card in front of the emperor is bigger than him. If you want to say that the hard work is high, it is naturally Hao Sui who has the advantage, but the problem is that Li Kui is the emperor's cheap brother-in-law, and the pillow style of the virtuous concubine is understood. Stubbornly scolding Li Kui not only can't be scared, but he may also lose points in front of the emperor, and the gains outweigh the losses, so he is angry that Hao Sui wants to vomit blood, but he has nothing to do with Li Kui.

Thinking of his various troubles, the angel Hao Sui, who was still alive, suddenly had a hunched back, his knees were sore, and the whole person was depressed.

Hao Sui smiled bitterly: "Master Lu, don't laugh at me when you are old." I was arranged by His Majesty to come to the northwest, and I will need Lord Lu to take care of me in the future. ”

"The old man has already been assigned to An Lu, how dare he say that he should take care of Grandpa Hao? It's just that Gonggong Hao is doing well in the palace, why did he come back to the northwest, is there going to be a war again? ”

Lü Dafang was not against war, and he was no more determined than Sima Guang in this regard. The main reason is that Sima Guang doesn't know anything about war, and he was already the prime minister at that time, if a war really breaks out, he, the prime minister, will inevitably coordinate the overall situation, and the probability of losing the war is extremely high, and he may also lose the country. It's better to negotiate peace, at least it can give the Great Song Dynasty a reprieve period.

In addition, Lu Dafang is a native of Western Beijing Zhao, and Lantian is also a county under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao, so the war is not far away for Lu Dafang.

Although no alien race has ever threatened the center of the northwestern hinterland, Jingzhao, but since childhood, he has been exposed to it and is not afraid of war.

Hao Sui said sadly: "Even if Da Song doesn't want to fight, I'm afraid it's difficult." Now the attitude of Western Xia to the south is very resolute. Obviously, it is not satisfied with the demarcation of the coins and borders. It's not been a day or two since the ministers decided to go to war. ”

Lu Dafang was stunned, but shook his head and said, "It's not just this reason, right?" ”

Fighting Xixia transferred Fan Chun and Zhang Qi away, how can they fight? Although Lu Huiqing has rich experience in governing and is resolute, he can only be politically skillful, and if he is really asked to command the entire northwest and north three road operations, I am afraid the consequences will be unpredictable. But Lu Dafang was a prime minister after all, so he quickly thought of a reason, and sighed: "Zhang Zihou has a lot of thoughts!" ”

"What did Master Lu think of?"

"Hehuang, besides this place, who cares about Western Xia. Compared with Western Xia, Hehuang is more suitable for the Great Song Dynasty as a horse breeding land, and the loss of Hehuang before is indeed a great loss for the Great Song Dynasty. Junshi didn't expect that after the Qingtang people showed goodwill in the Great Song Dynasty, they didn't pay attention to it at all, and they also sighed. It is not easy to fight Hehuang, if Xixia is not beaten down, the Great Song Dynasty will not be able to pacify Hehuang, and even suffer from the enemy on his back. To fight Hehuang, you must first fight Western Xia, which is an unavoidable situation. "Lu Dafang's administration is not without regrets, but there are regrets that he can't do it.

There must be many mistakes made by conservatives in governance, mainly in the country's strategic failures, and as for governance, in fact, conservatives are better than reformers.

The redundant officials of the Great Song Dynasty were mainly Enyin too easy. Fourth-grade civil officials and third-grade military attaches can grace one child every year; Six-rank civil officials, five-rank military attachés, can be favored by one child every three years. There are hundreds of civil officials above the fourth rank in the court, and there are no less than this number of military generals, plus the grace of low-level officials every three years, this is definitely a huge number.

But in reality, most civil servants don't like the children of Enyin. Those who were born in Jinshi, wealthy families, are all concerned about the children's study, and Jinshi's background is the king. Enyin can't be a big official, he can only be a small official, which is not very attractive to the children of official eunuchs. It is possible for the descendants to be enyin, but the officials of enyin can only get smaller and smaller, and they will be completely lost after the last three generations.

Therefore, redundant officials are just a lot of low-level officials, and for the Great Song Dynasty, these officials will not shake the foundation.

The reform of the army is a huge pit, even if Zhang Dian has a stubborn personality, he is not as good as Wang Anshi back then, and even Wang Anshi can't do it, is it possible for Zhang Dian to do it?

Therefore, the big ship of the Great Song Dynasty can only be repaired, not rebuilt, and the Fa Reform faction wants to make it simple.

got bad news from Lu Dafang, which made Hao Sui's mood very bad. After fighting Western Xia, he still has to fight Qingtang Tubo, why is his life so bitter!

Hao Sui came to see Lu Dafang for another purpose, to find Lu Dafang for supplies.

After listening to Hao Sui's complaints, Lu Dafang was dumbfounded, the supervising army of the dignified Northwest Army was actually seized by a nine-rank sesame official, can this be believed?

"Li Renjie, this person seems to be a little impressed."

Lu Dafang really has a little memory of Li Kui, Su Shi likes to write letters, often writes letters to friends who don't have them, writes too much, others know Su Shi's life on weekdays, even if he hasn't met friends for several years, he can tell Su Shi's recent situation. Of course, Su Shi also likes to give gifts, buy his favorite jujubes to give away, and he has always endorsed ginseng that has never been successful.

Anyway, friends can receive greetings from Su Shi every once in a while, as well as supplements.

Hao Sui must have complained about Li Kui in his heart, and he didn't have a good face at this time, and he said angrily with his hands on the food table: "He is the apprentice grandson of Master Su, the brother-in-law of Concubine Xian, and the son-in-law of the imperial master......"

There is another one that is not said, that is, the emperor's brother-in-law.

Lu Dafang suddenly realized that Hao Sui was not seized power, but came to befriend Li Kui. As for Li Kui's bad luck, Lu Dafang knew a little, and he also corresponded with Su Zhe, so he naturally knew that the Empress Dowager Xiang would have a hard time in the future. However, Lu Dafang didn't care whether Li Kui's relationship was strong or not, but was very interested in Li Kui's talent. Su Shi likes to brag when he writes letters, most of the time the cowhide is blown up, and Li Kui used to be a fun thing for Su Shi to brag about, but I haven't seen Su Shi boast about Li Kui's talent in his heart for a long time.

This made Lu Dafang very curious.

This question is not difficult for Hao Sui to answer, he thought for a while: "The outstanding person is like his name, this word is still given by the chapter Xiang, this time in the year of Jiaxu, he is the third place in the Jinshi and the first hall exam, we don't understand the things of the scholars, presumably Lord Lu knows." Moreover, Li Kui is very brave and comparable, and ordinary generals may be difficult to parry in his hands. ”

"Could it be that His Majesty also took a fancy to Li Renjie's civil and military affairs and wanted him to govern in the northwest?" Lu Dafang asked suddenly.

Hao Sui was stunned, he hadn't thought about this place yet, but let Lu Dafang remind him that it was really possible. Although Li Kui can make meritorious contributions, this guy's meritorious service and causing trouble are put together, and it is Li Kui's credit that the official family got what he wanted this time, but it is also an indisputable fact that the Empress Dowager Xiang was angry.

Hao Sui touched his smooth and fluffy chin, and said, "It's possible." But he's just a county lieutenant now, ruling the northwest, it's unlikely, right? ”

"It's not something that can be done in a year or two to subdue Hehuang, who would have thought that? However, the old man can be replenished, as long as Gonggong Hao asks for the treasury of several mansions, Jing Zhaoyin just doesn't want to give it, and he can't help it! ”

Thinking of working with Li Kui in the future, Hao Sui's mood was undoubtedly very bad.

"Our family has thanked Master Lu!"

"It's a matter of internal affairs, please don't be polite."

……

Hao Sui really found a lot of good things in Jingzhao, such as a lot of gunpowder, as well as various special weapons that are only available in the northwest. For example, assault rifles. just waited for Li Kui to come back with the people, so that he could give Li Kui credit.

Waiting left and right, after more than half a month, there is still no news of Li Kui. This made Hao Sui spend every day in anxiety.

On this day, Lantian County ordered Chen Ai to come to the Lu family's mansion in a panic, and after meeting Lu Dafang, he panicked and said: "Oh no, Lord Lu, there are routs entering the territory of Lantian and approaching my Lantian County." ”

"How is that possible?"

Lantian is in the hinterland of the northwest, and no matter whether it is a Qiang person, a party member, or a Tibetan person, he has never called it. But the appearance of the rout army shows something, these alien races have entered the hinterland of the Great Song Dynasty.

Under the policy of the Great Song Dynasty's border fortresses and strong walls, there were not many people who were taken captive by foreign races in recent years.

But Lantian in the northwest hinterland is different, many people live outside the city, and they can't stop the iron hooves of foreign races.

Lu Dafang didn't care if he was an official of Lantian anymore, and directly ordered: "Close the city gate and prepare to meet the enemy!" Jingshan, gather my Lu family's disciples, and wait for Chen County's order to call. ”