In the south of Huazhou City, Li Tai's cousin Li Pei and his second brother Li Chao had been waiting here with several servants early in the morning. When they saw Li Tai and his entourage approaching on horseback, they all strode forward to greet them.
"Thirteenth Lang."
"Brother!"
Li Tai turned over and dismounted, nodded to the two brothers and said to Li Pei: "I encountered some accidents during the trip. I came back two days late. Brother, I have been waiting for you."
Before leaving Jingzhou, Li Tai sent people to inform his family of his approximate return date. However, emergencies would inevitably occur during a long journey, and Li Tai encountered heavy rain on the way, which delayed his trip.
"Family, why are you so polite?"
After Li Pei heard this, he waved his hands and said with a smile, and then said: "According to Thirteenth Lang's instruction, we did not inform the public about your return date, but envoys from Daxingtai came to inquire this morning. You have returned now, so you should go home and rest first.
Or come to the house to see me?"
Li Tai's previous return to Guanzhong was before the Chinese New Year, and the schedule was not kept secret, so there was no shortage of people coming to greet him. But this time he returned in the middle of the year, and his family also encountered some unharmonious situations.
, he didn’t want to make any more public announcements to avoid telling the truth, so he told his family to keep a low profile.
"It's better to go to the house to see you first."
Li Tai thought for a while and then said, the situation in the country is changing more subtly now. In addition, as a military and political official in charge of southeastern affairs, Li Tai's every move will inevitably be closely watched and excessively discussed and interpreted. In this situation
Under such circumstances, your words and deeds should not leave too much room for imagination.
Li Pei nodded after hearing this, and then said to Li Chao: "The Fourteenth Master will go home first and tell the news. If any relatives or friends come to visit, they will be entertained in the middle hall first."
Nowadays, their family is no longer as small as before Li Tai. In addition to their respective responsibilities, they also have different divisions of labor in domestic and foreign affairs and human relations. For example, Li Pei is responsible for the human relations here in Huazhou. Although Li Tai stays outside all year round
, but the relationship between relatives and friends is also maintained by cousins, and they will not become alienated and indifferent.
After hearing this, Li Chao nodded, thanked his brother for his hard work, and then led a few servants and some goods that Li Tai had brought back from Jingzhou to go home first, while Li Pei and Li Tai returned to Zhongwai Mansion.
After some renovations and expansions, the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Palace today is even more majestic, and its scale is no less than that of the Imperial Palace in Chang'an. When it comes to the busy personnel in the palace, it is several times more than that of the Imperial Palace in Chang'an.
The group had just arrived at the gate of Zhongwai Mansion when someone who recognized Li Tai hurried in to greet him. Li Tai dismounted in front of the manor and exchanged greetings with some government officials. The number of people gathered around him suddenly increased several times.
Regardless of whether I know someone or not, I want to get in front of you and say a few words.
In just a short time, the front of the mansion was already overcrowded, and the entire front door of the Chinese and Foreign Mansion was completely blocked by people who came after hearing the news. Several Feng and others accompanying the escort held the hilts of their sabers and followed Li Tai step by step.
While moving among the crowd, even if he met other familiar people saying hello, they would all turn a deaf ear to him.
"Everyone, get out of the way! The journey to Taiyuan is hard, so don't block the way!"
After a while, a group of sword-wielding guards came out of the mansion to control the noisy situation. Wang Yue, who led these armored soldiers to maintain order and greet Li Tai, stepped forward to disperse the crowd, then walked all the way to Li Tai and bowed deeply.
He said: "Mr. Taiyuan returns to the mansion today, and I am sorry for not being able to welcome him from afar. I will remember the grace of rescuing people from difficulties in my heart. When I come to worship the Lord, I sincerely request Mr. Taiyuan to come to the mansion so that I can entertain you and thank you for your kindness!"
Li Tai naturally knew Wang Yue, but they didn't have any close contact with each other, they were just a nodding acquaintance.
The reason why Wang Yue was so respectful and attentive to him was because he entered Shu last year and was trapped in a tight siege. In the end, he relied on Li Tai to capture the son of Wuling King Xiao Ji and then sent people to negotiate with Shu. Wang Yue and others were able to
Evacuate Shuzhong and return safely. Putting aside official considerations, from a personal perspective, Li Tai also had a life-saving grace for Wang Yue, so he had such an attitude.
Li Tai's current powerful position, even if he didn't do it deliberately, many people would benefit a lot or suffer a lot because of his actions. He accepted Wang Yue's gratitude with a smile and agreed to visit him on a certain day.
The Jingzhao Wang family is also a large family in Guanzhong. Even though Li Tai does not need to be cared for and promoted by him in official matters, the family moved to Guanzhong and settled down, and they also wanted to spread their branches and maintain a good relationship with these famous local families in Guanzhong.
Interactive relationships are also beneficial and harmless.
With Wang Yue leading people into the mansion, although there were still people on both sides of the road greeting each other, there were no more people directly blocking the road, so the group of people went straight to the outside of the Zhitang of Zhongwai Mansion.
The original Taifu was renamed Zhongwaifu. Not only was the name changed, but the personnel structure and various regulations were also adjusted accordingly.
Official positions such as Shangshu Langzuo of the former Taifu are gradually being eliminated and transformed into a series of official positions with more domineering characteristics. To put it more bluntly, the power of Daxingtai has become greater, and the entire Chinese and foreign governments have
It is operated by one person in Daxingtai. Some matters that needed to be discussed before can now be resolved by Daxingtai in one word, eliminating many intermediate procedures.
Changing the operation of the Bafu to be more authoritarian and efficient, and making the court personnel more complex and bloated, is a keynote of Yuwentai's reform and adjustment in recent years. Including the subsequent implementation of the six-official system, it was not for the purpose of routine operation of court personnel.
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Although the evaluation of the six-official system in the history of institutional reform is not very high, Yuwen's subsequent performance of protecting and killing the emperor as casually as pinching a chicken also proved that at least from the perspective of the hegemony, this set of gadgets is quite useful.
of.
It is difficult for the emperor to accumulate his own political capital through normal government affairs and personnel operations, so as to deal with powerful ministers at the political level. In the end, the transfer of power relies on street gangster fighting methods such as beating sap.
Li Tai was still thinking about what he knew about Bafu's personnel reforms when he saw several more people walking out of the hall. The first one turned out to be Director Yuwen, the general manager of Qinzhou.
Seeing Director Yuwen striding towards him with fists clasped, Li Tai did not dare to neglect him. He took two steps towards Director Yuwen, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang Wugong, it's been a long time!"
Since Yu Wenyuan was appointed governor of Qinzhou, Li Tai's contact with him has decreased. After that, the two men successively became governors and generals. Current public opinion often puts them together for discussion, but in fact they have fewer interactions. Yu Wentai also seemed to avoid direct contact with the two of them. Even when they returned to court to report on their duties or entertain family banquets, they rarely arranged for the two of them to meet.
"Mr. Taiyuan, alas, I'd better call you Boshan. This can alleviate my shame of being a laggard."
As he said this, the smile on Director Yuwen's face was quite friendly and kind.
Compared with his brother Yu Wenhu, Director Yu Wenhu gave people the impression of being a little less shrewd and a little less sinister. Moreover, because Daxingtai admired and relied heavily on his nephew, he was well-known and popular both internally and externally. Not bad either.
In recent years, although there has been talk about the relative merits of using two more people, even some people who think that Yu Wen's meritorious service is far less than that of Li Tai often have to add that if Zhang Wu Gong had not been a guard in Guanzhong every time he used troops, his meritorious service would definitely be the same. Be stronger and never stop at the current deeds.
"Those who are good at fighting have no illustrious achievements, and those who do good things are indiscriminate. Who among the people knows how capable and thorough Zhang Wugong is!"
Naturally, Li Tai would not underestimate Director Yuwen because of current public opinion. His ability to take over Longyou from his father-in-law and manage it smoothly to this day was not just because he was Yuwentai's nephew. And even Yuwentai's name is not as loud as it is inside the pass after passing Longguan.
In addition to Director Yuwen, they were greeted by Yu Chijiong and several other Bafu generals. Because Da Xingtai was still waiting in the hall, they briefly greeted each other before entering the hall together.
When Li Tai walked into the main hall, Yu Wentai was also walking slowly. They looked at each other and quickened their pace, just like lovers meeting again after a long separation, running in both directions.
Li Taifang bowed down and bowed, and Yu Wentai rushed up, hugged Li Tai's arms with both hands, and laughed loudly: "I miss my beloved general with hunger and thirst! Although the words in the old message are as clear as words. We meet, but how can the ink written on it be so kind and respectable as a real person? Eating impure millet and good cheese will make people thin, but who else can take on the important task of the southeast except Boshan? I am by no means a lord who cannot tolerate me. I only want to meet you today. Give Boshan plenty of food and drink, and say nothing else!"
Li Tai was held up by his arms and couldn't bow down. He immediately indulged in the sweet words and twisted for a long time before taking advantage of Yu Wentai's strength to make a deep and long bow, and at the same time replied in his mouth: "I'm sorry for you, I'm a scholar of the country." How dare I not repay you as a nobleman of the country? My Lord misses me so much, how can I not miss my Lord like crazy? There are hundreds of kinds of talents in the country, but I am only in the middle and upper reaches, how dare I speak arrogantly? A person who is incompetent! I am eager to repay you, and in order to make my lord's grace and majesty shine in Jianghan, I will not give in when it comes to things, and I will never retreat if I advance!"
"Good, very good! Every time Bo Shan has something to say, he always makes people feel happy and refreshed. With such a good minister to pacify Jianghan, I have nothing to worry about!"
Yu Wentai took Li Tai's hand and said with a smile to everyone in the hall, his satisfaction was beyond words.
Although Yu Wentai said that he would not talk about other things until he was satisfied with feeding Li Tai, Hou Jing, the devil, was naturally not an ordinary personnel matter. Wang Sengbian sent his brothers and sisters in such a wise manner without even mentioning national gifts.
It’s not an exaggeration, so of course it must be presented to the boss for review and appreciation as soon as possible.
So after Yu Wentai returned to his seat and sat down, Li Tai hurriedly started talking about the matter, and asked the Daxingtai attendants to come out of the hall to bring Hou Jing's hands and feet into the hall for a look. The thing was so scary that he finally
Don’t take it with you!
After Yuwentai heard this, his interest immediately increased and he quickly waved for someone to get it quickly.
When the wooden box containing Hou Jing's hands and feet was brought out and presented to the case, Yu Wentai took a few glances and burst into laughter: "Although I hate that this stubborn thief could not be killed in my hands, it is a pleasure to see this flesh and blood now!"
Send an order, let the people in the mansion have a banquet on this day, and let the people in the mansion also tell the story of this traitor's bones. Such an ungrateful person, even if he is rampant for a while, will inevitably be abandoned by heaven!"
When he said this, Yu Wentai was filled with resentment. Although Hou Jing's efforts in recent years had done the most harm to the Eastern Wei Dynasty, especially to Nanliang, the Western Wei Dynasty had benefited from Hou Jing's efforts and had greatly increased its profits and national strength.
Getting stronger.
But this guy Hou Jing went back on his word last year and gave Yu Wentai a hard blow, which made him feel that his face was greatly damaged, and he naturally had no good impression of Hou Jing in his heart. Moreover, these two or five young men took betrayal to the extreme.
For any gang leader, it is a good material to strengthen the ideological construction of the team.
Thanks to Li Tai's achievements in Jianghan and his intimidation of the Jiangling military government, the Western Wei Dynasty finally got a share of Hou Jing's bones. It would be a waste not to use them to disgust the masses, so Yuwen Tai
Dang even decided to call everyone together to take charge of a meal and criticize Hou Jing, the big bad guy.
There were at least a few hundred people working in the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office, and it would take a certain amount of time to prepare for the banquet. So Li Tai chatted with Daxingtai in the hall for a while, mainly talking about his recent interactions with the Jiangling Military Mansion.
The interaction between them, as well as the process of Wang Sengbian and other Jiangling men quelling Hou Jing's rebellion.
"Who is this Chen Baxian? Although I have heard this name occasionally, I don't know everything about him. But from what Boshan said about the military affairs of the Southern Liang Dynasty, this disciple seems to be very courageous and well-organized!"
When Yu Wentai listened to Li Tai's story, he couldn't help but ask.
Although Chen Baxian was well-known in later generations, many people only knew him as a person but did not know what he was doing. Specifically speaking, although Chen Baxian gained prestige and fame in fighting the rebellion in Jiaozhou, he was still a relatively unknown existence in the Northern Dynasties. After all, the Northern Dynasties
To control the world, the most indispensable thing is the heroic deeds of elite soldiers and generals. A Southern Dynasty general far away in Lingnan didn't take it to heart even if he heard about it.
But there is one thing to say. Chen Baxian’s military and political talents, as well as the pattern he displayed in the process of countering the rebellion, are obviously much better than Wang Sengbian. Including the soldiers in the Northern Dynasty, they themselves committed crimes in gangs, not to mention
, everyone who is able to make some achievements has also scratched out a lottery ticket that belongs to himself. But Chen Baxian is really a hard worker, and he has accomplished a brilliant career with one hand and one foot. He is well-deserved to be called the fierce man of Lingnan.
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Li Tai only briefly described Chen Baxian, and Yu Wentai noticed his extraordinary character. After getting to know him in more detail, he couldn't help but sigh: "If this disciple really has the style Boshan said,
Then don’t underestimate the enemy! In the coming days of the Southern Kingdom, this person may be the one who can compete with you, Boshan, across the river!"
Hearing what Yu Wentai said, Li Tai couldn't help but sigh that the old guy was quite accurate in judging people. At the same time, he quickly said: "Chen Baxian is really talented. It's just a pity that the people in power in the south are jealous of talents and talents. Even if you have good talents, it's hard to be good."
Use. Xiangdong is self-defeating, and the eyes of a mouse are short-sighted. How can it be as good as the master's ability to see everything? Although I am an iron man, I can control it by the master, and I am not afraid of fighting with Longquan!"