This time, in addition to the concubine Mrs. Jinzhuang giving birth to a precious son, the old man also moved from Biyang to Jianye. In addition to the gentry from Nanyang who lived in Jianye, many good officials from the court were also invited to the private banquet.
There was a banquet to celebrate, and more than twenty tables of banquets were laid out inside and outside.
Zhong He, whose status was not prominent, was sitting in a wing room in the east cross courtyard for a banquet with a dozen people who had recently moved to Jianye from Nanyang. They had no chance to get together with figures like Jin Zhuangchen and Deng Gui.
Although there were so many people in the wing who had just moved to Jianye, there were also many well-informed people. After a few glasses of wine, they began to talk loudly:
"It is unfair to say that Duke Wen acted recklessly and abolished the establishment. In fact, all this was done by Marquis Jingsheng secretly. Marquis Jingsheng received the late emperor's secret edict and without revealing anything, he led his troops to build Ye. Don't talk about Duke Wen.
, How many people in Jianye city were not misled by him to think that the late emperor wanted to make Prince Yin the emperor? Duke Wen was deceived and fell into the trap, leaving a written evidence. Then the father and son rushed to the political hall to make Prince Yin the emperor, but were arrested by Jing.
The victorious marquis took the victory by surprise, do you think it was unfair or not?"
"...I heard news from the palace that the officials had no knowledge of it beforehand. Even until Wen Guogong and his son were captured by Marquis Jingsheng, they thought it was a conspiracy against him and stayed in the Privy Council without daring to move.
However, after knowing the details, the officials could only follow the trend and deal strictly with Duke Wen and his son. Who told Duke Wen to be deceived and leave behind the documents?"
"I have to say that this matter is simply because what Marquis Jingsheng did was too unethical and immoral. I don't know how Wen Guogong and his son had offended him in the past, but they actually used such ruthless tactics to put the Zheng family to death.
We people, we really did the right thing by leaving Biyang. If we still hesitate to stay in Biyang, we don’t know how we will die in the future?"
Zhong He had only been in Jianye for two days and had not had time to get together with his fellow villagers. He was very surprised to hear such remarks.
When he saw that Xu Huai was ambitious, there must be many secrets behind the capture of Zheng Huaizhong, Zheng Cong and his son, but he did not expect that even the fellow Nanyang people who had just arrived in Jianye had already widely discussed the whole incident.
Now that the inside story has been revealed, what is the court preparing to do?
Jin Longquan walked into the room and saw the surprise on Zhong He's face.
Of course he knew that the reason why these things spread quickly among the gentry from Nanyang was that Jin Zhuangcheng instructed some people to fan the flames behind his back; and Jin Zhuangcheng sometimes even talked about these things openly in public, for the purpose of
I'm just afraid that others will think that the Jin family has something to do with Chushan.
Jin Longquan pretended to listen with interest for a while, and then drank with everyone with a wine cup. Finally, he walked to Zhong He and said, "Jin Gong has had a round of wine at this time, and the surroundings are quieter. The brothers of the Zhong family
You can go over and have a toast..."
"Thank you." Zhong He thanked him gratefully.
Jin Zhuangchen is the minister of the Ministry of Rites, and can be regarded as a first-level official in the court. Among the guests and friends invited to the banquet today, there are also a few who hold high positions. Ordinary gentry have no qualifications to come and toast.
Zhong He did not expect to be directly appreciated by Jin Zhuang Cheng, but Jin Longquan, remembering old times, specially created the opportunity for him to toast in front of Jin Zhuang Cheng and others, and he was still very grateful in his heart.
Zhong He stood up immediately and followed Jin Longquan to the formal banquet hall of Jin Mansion under the envious gaze of everyone.
The banquet in the East Cross Courtyard was for eight people to enjoy wine at the Eight Immortals Table. In the banquet hall, Old Master Jin, Jin Zhuangcheng, Deng Gui and other guests were listed in the hall to have a banquet.
The beautiful maids were passing through the tables like bees and butterflies, passing plates and pouring wine. There were also musicians sitting in the corner of the banquet hall, playing piano and flute to cheer up the wine. The garden outside was also decorated with lights and colorful decorations. I don’t know what the comparison was.
How lively is Dongkuaoyuan?
Jin Longquan has been working diligently around Jin Zhuangcheng in recent years to take care of many affairs, and is still trusted by Jin Zhuangcheng.
Jin Longquan led Zhong He in for a toast, but Jin Zhuangcheng said a few polite words of appreciation, but these were purely polite words and did not treat him as a person, nor did he intend to introduce him to the officials chatting and laughing around him.
There were many guests in the banquet hall. Apart from Jin Zhuangcheng, Zhong He recognized the old master Jin, Jin Yuzhu and Deng Gui. They toasted to each other one by one and then left and went back to the east cross courtyard.
"Zhong He, come sit down and drink." Deng Gui called to Zhong He.
Everyone was slightly startled, Zhong He was even more stunned.
Jin Longquan also had quick eyesight and quick hands. He immediately ordered his servants to place a low table between Deng Gui and Jin Yuzhu and put all the drinks and dishes on it without the need for Jin Zhuangcheng's instructions.
Regardless of the rumors in the court that Deng Gui was jealous of the new emperor, at this time he served as the commander of the Zuolongwu Army, the governor of Yuanzhou, and also knew Luzhou. He was equipped with imperial weapons, was granted the title of Marquis of Xiangyang, and was in charge of the Privy Council. His status was absolute.
Not slightly lower than Jinzhuang Cheng.
Now that he had asked Zhonghe to stay in the banquet hall to have a drink, Jin Zhuangcheng would definitely not be able to refute his favor.
Otherwise, why would Jin Zhuangcheng invite Deng Gui over for a banquet?
When Zhong He sat behind the case, he was also confused, but he didn't think that Deng Gui might be jealous of the new emperor at this time. He simply didn't have the qualifications to dislike him. He was really flattered.
Zhong He came in to toast just now. Everyone in the banquet hall thought he was just an ordinary fellow member of the Jin family. When they saw him asking Deng Guiwan to stay for a drink, they all looked over with interest.
"I think back to the time when banditry in Tongbai Mountain brought disaster to Deng Suishen and other places in the Tang Dynasty. Deng was fortunate enough to join hands with Marquis Jingsheng to eliminate the bandits. The Zhong family brothers also led their clan to kill the bandits and made great contributions. When the imperial court rewarded their merits, the Zhong family brothers recounted their merits.
He is still above Tang Pan, Xu Xin'an and others, he is really a strong man in Tongbai Mountain,"
Deng Gui introduced Zhong He to everyone and said with a smile without hiding his praise,
"However, the Zhong brothers were indifferent to fame and fortune and loved reading poetry and books. After the banditry in Tongbai Mountain was subsided, they lived in seclusion in the countryside. They were summoned by the court many times. In the end, they only served as military officials in the Military and Horse Supervisory Department of Nanyang Prefecture for a period of time.
I didn't even have the chance to meet him before he signed the seal. I didn't expect that when I returned to Beijing this time, I would meet him at the Duke of Jin's mansion. What a blessing..."
In addition to the garrison troops under the jurisdiction of the military and horse supervision departments of various states, Chushan also organized a vanguard army and Tianxiong army, a total of four town troops, and the central army was commanded by Wang Ju, Xu Wuqi, Chen Zixiao and Wang Xian.
official.
At present, Xu Huai formed the Nancai Recruitment Division to suppress the Dongjing bandit army in Jingxiang. No matter how many overt and covert conflicts there were behind the scenes, when the new emperor ascended the throne, Xu Huai not only expressed his congratulations, but also wrote to the court to request permission for Chushan to create a new Tianxiong army.
After the army, Tang Pan and Fan Zongqi were appointed as the chief and deputy commanders, responsible for the suppression of the Dongjing bandit army. At the same time, he also wrote to the court, requesting permission for Xu Xin'an to replace Xu Wuqi and assume the post of commander of the Tianxiong Army's left army.
The imperial court has not officially issued an order to comply, but everyone in the banquet hall is aware of these matters, and they also know very well the status of Tang Pan and Xu Xin'an in the Chushan Army.
There were not many commander-level generals in the entire imperial court.
Different from the Tianxuan period when culture was valued over martial arts and culture was used to control military affairs, even the most stubborn scholars knew that the status of military commanders at this time was no longer what it was in the past.
Now Deng Gui introduced that Zhong He was as famous as Tang Pan and Xu Xin'an in his early years, and his achievements in suppressing bandits were even greater than these two. How could it not arouse their interest?
In their view, with Deng Gui's status, there was no need to praise an unknown person with false pretenses.
For a while, everyone had a great time drinking with Zhong He. Jin Zhuangcheng, Jin Yuzhu and his son talked to him much more cordially.
After a banquet, Deng Gui asked Zhonghe why he was in Jianye.
"I have traveled east of the Yangtze River many times before and have always admired the people in the south of the Yangtze River. In addition, my wife Wang was ill in Nanyang the year before last and has not recovered. This time I made the decision to move my family to Jianye." How did Zhong He know?
How involved was Deng Gui with Chu Shan? He answered Deng Gui's questions carefully.
"Where are you going to work now, or are you staying at home and studying the books of sages?" Deng Gui asked.
"The world is in chaos and the barbarians are still alive. How can we calm down and stop asking about things outside the window? It's just been two days since we moved to Jianye. I want to serve the imperial court, but I still can't." Zhong He said.
"Then your family is staying in Jianye. How about you come with me to Luzhou?" Deng Gui invited him, "You are so talented that you cannot serve in the army to fight against the barbarians. It is really a pity!"
Zhong He was stunned there.
After the Tongbai Mountain Bandit Rebellion, he had no interaction with Deng Gui. Over the years, as the gap in status between the two parties became wider and wider, he could not bear to try to cling to him, but he did not expect that Deng Gui actually wanted to recruit him.
Seeing that Zhong He hesitated, Jin Zhuangcheng stood up and asked with a smile: "Why, Marquis Deng can't even ask you to serve the court?"
"Zhong He is very happy to be able to serve in front of Marquis Deng's tent. It is inevitable that he will be a little overwhelmed with joy. I ask Marquis Deng for your forgiveness." Zhong He quickly stood up and saluted Deng Gui.
Everyone raised their glasses to congratulate: "General Zhong is very capable and will serve in the army to fight against the barbarians! Congratulations to Marquis Deng for getting a new tiger general!"
