Empty talk harms the country

Author: Gongsun Wujiu

Empty talk harms the country

After Xu Ren and Wang Kai left the Prime Minister's Mansion, they still felt unwilling to do so.

On their way back home, the two happened to meet Wang Ping, the former court captain.

Wang Ping once promoted virtuous people, and in the autumn of the fifth year of the First Yuan Dynasty (81 BC), he participated in suppressing the rebellion in Yizhou, beheading and capturing more than 30,000 people. Later, he was promoted to the rank of imperial officer due to his meritorious service.

Just as his career was flourishing, he was implicated in the affair between Shangguan and Sang Hongyang and was forced to resign.

Since then, Wang Ping has been extremely dissatisfied with Huo Guang.

When Xianliang Literature found him, they hit it off immediately, and the relationship with Xianliang Literature suddenly became intense.

Under his help, Zuo Fengyi, Jia Sheng and Hu also fell in love with the virtuous literature school.

"Where does the prince want to go?"

Wang Kai asked Wang Ping.

Wang Ping smiled and said, "I am about to pay a visit to General You... Are you coming from the Prime Minister's Palace?"

Wang Kai was moved when he heard this. The right general Zhang Anshi had always been loyal to the emperor and held military power.

If he can convince Zhang Anshi, it will be a big help in dealing with Huo Guang.

Thinking of this, Wang Kai said to Wang Ping: "This person is coming from the Prime Minister's Palace... I wonder if the prince may recommend the right general to someone!"

When Wang Ping heard this, he thought about it and said, "Why not... just go with me..."

Wang Kai and Xu Ren were both happy when they heard this, "Thank you so much, Your Majesty..."

Wang Ping waved his hand and said, "It's just a small effort... Why bother saying thank you!"

Then the two of them followed Wang Ping to outside Zhang Anshi's mansion.

Zhang Anshi felt unhappy when he heard that Wang Ping also brought Xu Ren and Wang Kai this time.

He was originally reluctant to meet Wang Ping, but he reluctantly agreed because of the friendship between his former colleagues.

When he heard that Wang Ping had brought two virtuous literary people without notifying him, he was naturally angry.

Nowadays, the princes and princes of Chang'an are afraid to avoid the dispute between virtuous literature and great generals.

Although Zhang Anshi was angry, he couldn't turn away others who had already come to the door. He had no choice but to meet the three of them in the living room.

"General You, I haven't seen you for many years. How are you doing?"

Wang Ping started to get close to him as soon as he came up.

Wang Ping's main purpose of visiting Zhang Anshi this time was to seek revenge with the help of Zhang Anshi.

Therefore, he was naturally quite flattering to Zhang Anshi in his words.

Zhang Anshi naturally knew what was going on. Although he was disgusted in his heart, he still said with a smile on his face:

"I was born to work hard one day, and I can't compare to the prince's idle clouds and wild cranes, which make others envious..."

Wang Pingping froze, and quickly apologized and said with a smile: "The right general is joking... If I don't give up, I am willing to share the burden for you general..."

Zhang Anshi waved his hand: "The prince is joking, he is a great talent... How dare I work..."

Zhang Anshi's words actually clearly rejected Wang Ping.

Although Wang Ping understood what Zhang Anshi said, he was still unwilling to accept it. He continued regardless of his face.

"I heard that General You and Han Hou, the military governor of Liaodong, are close friends. I wonder if you can recommend him to my subordinates?"

As soon as these words came out, Zhang Anshi's expression suddenly changed, and he said seriously:

"Where did the prince hear such words? How could someone who has always been loyal to the king have a close relationship with an envoy..."

Zhang Anshi immediately distanced himself from his relationship with Han Feng.

This is no wonder for him. As a close official of the emperor, Zhang Anshi knew very well that the emperor was now quite wary of the interactions between ministers and military governors.

It would be good for everyone to distance themselves from Han Feng and even Zhang Yue in public.

As soon as Wang Ping heard Zhang Anshi speak like this, he knew that he had just said the wrong thing.

Since he was not a sharp person, he didn't know how to remedy it for a while.

At this time, Wang Kai, who had been deliberately ignored by Zhang Anshi since entering the house, spoke.

"The right general has misunderstood the prince's intention..."

"The prince's words are to praise General You and the Marquis of Han as the pillars of the country... The prince also hopes to contribute to the country, so he also hopes that General You can recommend him..."

Wang Ping also reacted when he heard the words. He quickly stood up and bowed to Zhang Anshi: "This is exactly what I mean... I hope General You will do it..."

Zhang Anshi neither agreed nor refused. He deliberately looked Xu Ren and Wang Kai up and down.

Then he asked Wang Ping with a smile: "Who are these two princes?"

How could Zhang Anshi not know Shaofu Xu Ren and Dr. Wang Kai, especially Xu Ren, the Shaofu and Zhang Anshi never looked up or down.

When he asked this question, he actually wanted to shut him out.

If ordinary people heard Zhang Anshi say this, they would naturally leave in a sensible manner.

When Xu Ren heard Zhang Anshi's words, his face darkened instantly. He felt that he had been insulted by Zhang Anshi.

As a high-ranking official with a fortune of two thousand dan, he still has his own pride even though he has taken refuge in virtuous literature.

Zhang Anshi's words just now actually had the intention of deliberately irritating the two of them.

Once the two of them got into a fight, he could justifiably kick them out, so that he could continue to sit on the sidelines and avoid being prematurely involved in the dispute between Huo Guang and Xianliang Literature.

Zhang Anshi's plan almost succeeded, but unfortunately Wang Kai stopped Xu Ren in time when he was about to have a fit.

Xu Ren was not an easy person to take the position of young master, and he immediately understood after being blocked by Wang Kai.

He calmed down immediately and left the next matter to Wang Kai to handle.

When Wang Kai saw that Xu Ren had understood, he suddenly laughed, "General You is such a noble man and forgets things...In the old days, the discussion of salt and iron... I also had a debate with General You..."

"The demeanor of General You at that time is still vivid in my mind now that I think about it... It's a pity that a certain person with little talent and little knowledge could not understand the general's words..."

After hearing Wang Kai's words, Zhang Anshi could only say silently in his heart: "How could there be such a shameless person..."

With this thought in his mind, Zhang Anshi said: "I am old and frail, and my memory is no longer what it used to be. I hope you two can show more respect..."

Wang Kai smiled and said: "The right general is joking. The general is in the prime of life... He will definitely become a general and become a prime minister in the future. Both your majesty and the great man cannot do without the general..."

Wang Kai's words imply that he is serving the emperor.

However, it was okay to use these words to coax others, but how could he deceive Zhang Anshi?

In the eyes of the emperor, these virtuous literature were just tools, and he did not actually trust them.

Wang Kai didn't mean to make Zhang Anshi believe what he said, he just didn't want to give Zhang Anshi a reason to expel him.

Wang Kai also understood that the emperor was not a generous person, so he made it clear that he was doing things for the emperor.

Regardless of whether this statement is true or false, Zhang Anshi would not refuse him entry on the surface.

Because this would make the emperor think that he was flouting his own authority.

Zhang Anshi naturally understood this. Although his original intention was not to let the three people enter the palace, because of Wang Kai's words, he could only let the three people enter the palace in order not to offend the emperor.

"Please wait inside..."

As soon as Zhang Anshi said this, Wang Kai and Xu Ren smiled unconsciously on their faces.

As for Wang Ping, he was secretly upset. How could he not understand that he was obviously being used by Wang Kai and Xu Ren?

Even so, he did not dare to get angry when facing the three of them, so he could only follow behind and enter Zhang Anshi's right general's mansion.

"Someone come and prepare tea!"

Entering the living room, Zhang Anshi first asked someone to prepare tea for the three of them.

Influenced by Zhang Yue, Du Ling and others, the habit of serving tea to guests has developed in the homes of the princes and princes of Chang'an.

Zhang Anshi had always regarded Zhang Yue as his confidant in private, so the tea sets in the mansion were naturally on par with those in the Yunyang Marquis Mansion.

Zhang Anshi himself often makes tea and tastes it.

After a few people sat down, Zhang Anshi took the tea set and made tea for them.

“Great tea!”

Before the tea was brewed, Wang Kai couldn't help but praise it.

Although Wang Kai doesn't like Zhang Yue, he still likes tea.

Zhang Anshi smiled when he heard this, and then poured a cup of tea for each of the three people.

The four of them were sitting and sipping tea, which made people look like they were out of the world.

However, only four people knew that in fact all four of them had evil intentions.
To be continued...