Chapter 4 Guoshang (Part 2) After a moment of silence, their eyes met again and they smiled again. Liu Hongji shook his head and said self-deprecatingly: "Actually, there are some things I am not sure I am right about, but I still can't help it.
I use it to advise you that the best way to trouble people is to be a teacher. What the sage said seems to be true!"
"Brother Hongji is taking care of me, he is afraid that I will suffer a loss," Li Xu responded with a smile.
Liu Hongji shook his head, sighed and thought for a while, finally not wanting to create any estrangement in Li Xu's heart, he whispered: "You have a pure heart, outstanding martial arts, and an open mind to learn. Your future future may not be limited to this. It's just some official common sense."
You need to pay more attention, if no one tells you, you may suffer from this in the future!"
"Brother Hongji, please give me some advice!" Li Xu responded seriously and his relationship with Liu Hongji suddenly changed from friends to colleagues with mutual interests. He also felt very regretful and wanted to do something to make amends, but for a while he couldn't find a way to make amends.
Liu Hongji shook his head and smiled bitterly. He seemed to have a thousand things to say and didn't know where to start. He pondered for a moment and asked in a low voice: "Do you know that since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the political affairs of the past dynasties have been controlled by some powerful families without any basis or basis?"
Is it always extremely difficult for people who want to get ahead?"
"I know that many people have a family behind them. Brother Yuantong was born in the Wang family in Huainan, Lao Qi was born in the Qi family in Hejian, Ziying..." Li Xu smiled and expressed his understanding of the family before he could wait.
By the time he finished speaking, Liu Hongji was laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe.
"You said Lao Wang, Lao Qi and the others, haha, brother, haha, I really belong to you!" Liu Hongji leaned back and forth, pounding the table while saying
After Li Xu made such a stupid move, the atmosphere in the military tent became warmer. Liu Hongji had laughed enough, and ordered someone to come in and wipe away the tea spilled on the table, then shook his head and continued: "What kind of family do they have?"
, In fact, including my Liu family, they are not really wealthy families. They are just pretending to be wealthy families in order to look good for themselves! How can the children of real aristocratic families serve in the military camp like us! They are born with seals.
, If you join the army, you should at least start as a fifth-grade general!"
Li Xu remembered that Xu Maogong once said that his family had always hoped to join a wealthy family, so they had raised him as the family's hope since he was a child. However, those truly wealthy families looked down on the Xu family very much and disdained to associate with him. If measured by the same standards
, If Xu Maogong is not considered a wealthy family, those companions in the military camp are indeed 'wealthy people in disguise'. Thinking of this, he smiled and agreed with Liu Hongji's remarks.
"Those who work in the food protection army have more connections in their families than ordinary people. Some of them may be county guards or nephews of the county magistrate. This is a fact, but everyone's family is far from a wealthy family.
The so-called rich families refer to those whose family members have been top officials and whose disciples are from the old Manchu Dynasty. Shandong has the five surnames of Wang, Cui, Lu, Li, and Zheng, while Guanzhong has the six surnames of Wei, Pei, Liu, Xue, Yang, and Du.
The current Yuwen family, the remaining Xie family, Wang family, Chen family, etc. in the south of the Yangtze River, there are only about twenty people in the world. Everyone is proud to associate with them, and these families often collude with each other, and the emperors of all dynasties have great power.
We know that being a powerful family is not a blessing to the country, but all the emperors in the past dynasties have been unable to solve the problem. In this dynasty, the previous emperors opened the imperial examination, and all people regardless of high or low can pass the examination and be appointed officials, just to break this tradition. After all, the imperial examination time is short, and now it is still
The noble family is in power!”
"And those who are elected as officials are either the sons of this family or the nephews of that family. These guys are not good at governing the place. They cause harm to the people, but one of them is responsible for the two. But you can't do anything about them, and they often get involved.
And move your whole body." Liu Hongji shook his head, very dissatisfied with the current situation. If he wanted to change this situation, he had to reach a certain position. In this upward process, some prices had to be paid.
"The Great Sui Dynasty is about to be wiped out by these guys, but the Emperor doesn't know it yet. His Majesty the Emperor likes to hear praises from others and likes to show off his unparalleled martial arts. Just like this invasion of Liao Dynasty, the Huagons of the Manchu Dynasty planned it for more than two years.
, there were endless debates about whether to fight or not, but no one opened their eyes and paid attention to the terrain of Liaodong, and no one thought about what consequences it would bring to the Sui Dynasty if the battle was defeated."
"Brother Hongji said that meat eaters are despicable, right?" Li Xu interjected in a low voice.
"It's not that meat eaters are contemptible, but that wealthy and aristocratic families put all their thoughts on how to benefit the family. They don't care about the people and the country at all, and they don't pay attention to morality in their actions. No matter who accidentally offends them, the result is usually broken into pieces!
"Liu Hongji shook his head, his face full of helplessness.
"All the big families are rotten to the core!" Qin Ziying's angrily words echoed in Li Xu's heart. General Luo Yi once said, "People are not animals, and they don't need blood and race!" This sentence sounds exciting.
, upon closer inspection, it may not contain a hint of anger.
"So, in the future, in the officialdom, try not to offend people from these families. If you can avoid it, avoid it. If you can't avoid it, tolerate it. We, the descendants of poor families, always have to go through a lot of hardships if we want to achieve something."
Yes!" Liu Hongji thought for a while and finally concluded
Li Xu's biggest ambition at that time was just to be a household clerk in the county. He never knew the way to be an official. His mentor Yang Laofuzi only worked as an aide for Yang Su and never officially entered the officialdom.
He was a scholarly man, and of course he would not teach his disciples how to make a fortune in the officialdom. Liu Hongji's words today were like opening another door in front of Li Xu, allowing him to clearly see the filth inside.
He could not contact the real situation inside the door for the time being, but he had some precautions in his heart.
This advice came from the bottom of his heart, and Li Xu couldn't help but think about it. He handed over to Liu Hongji again and said, "Thank you, Brother Hongji, for your advice. I will be careful in the future and try not to cause trouble for myself!"
"Actually, the Li family in Longyou, where Mr. Tang lives, can be considered a wealthy family!" Liu Hongji waved his hand, signaling to Li Xu not to be too polite, "But Mr. Tang is currently unlucky, so we have to be careful at all times!"
"Tang Gong is unlucky? Didn't Tang Gong just be promoted to Shaoqing yesterday?" Li Xu asked in confusion. Since yesterday, people have been telling him that Tang Gong has lost power but a fourth-rank official has still lost power. What does it mean?
What about luck?
"Tang Gong's family has been holding hairpins for generations. The predecessors once served in the Shangzhu Kingdom. When the late emperor was the governor of Anzhou, Tang Gong was originally a local official. He and the current emperor were cousins and close relatives. The relationship between them was very close. Later, the emperor heard this.
Others made false claims and demoted him to a sixth-grade clerk. It took two or three years before Tang Gong slowly climbed up to his current position bit by bit!" Liu Hongji explained to Li Xu in a low voice that the two of them were now considered dependents.
As for the generals of the Li family and the details of the Li family, of course he had to carefully explain it to Li Xu. There were two benefits to doing so. First, it would prevent Li Xu from making a mistake and inadvertently harming his own interests. Second, it would also
It can make Li Xu, the new dependent, feel at ease and not be easily attracted by others.
"Who is so bad that he actually caused a stumbling block for Mr. Tang?" Li Xu didn't understand Liu Hongji's good intentions. He just focused on his own curiosity and blurted out what he asked.
"It wasn't anyone who stumbled. It was someone who made up a folk song, saying, 'Peach plums, floods surround Yangshan Mountain.' As a result, Banzai thought that the man named Li was in danger, so he wanted to kill Duke Tang. Thanks to the persuasion of the courtiers.
, he was demoted several levels and was placed in the position of a young prisoner in the palace to observe his future actions. Later, he was demoted to Huaiyuan Town as the treasurer and governor!" Liu Hongji smiled bitterly (note 1) "How could the emperor believe this? There are so many in the world.
If all the people named Li were killed, wouldn't it be a river of blood?" Li Xu said in surprise. After he finished speaking, he realized that he was treasonous and dared to criticize the current emperor. Think about the man who set the soldiers on fire with a few words on the general ordering platform yesterday.
A wise emperor with a fighting spirit, he could not connect a superstitious and confused guy with the current emperor.
"The emperor may not believe it, but he is afraid that others will believe it and threaten the Sui Dynasty!" Liu Hongji sighed, as if he was avenging the injustice of the Li family's fate. "However, now the storm has finally ended. From yesterday's words of Long Live
Look, he no longer wants to pursue this matter!"
"I think Tang Gong has regained His Majesty's trust!" Li Xu nodded in agreement. He thought of Yu Wenshiji and Qin Ziying's words again. If he had not considered himself Li Yuan's junior at that time, he might have been awarded a higher position, but
He couldn't mention it to Liu Hongji, and it wouldn't have any positive effect if he said it. He was no longer the thief who pointed at his nose and scolded others and taught him how to get along with his friends when they first met. He himself was no longer the ignorant person.
Stupid boy who understands
Almost overnight, everything changed. Maybe the changes had already started, but I was just stupid and didn't realize it.
After recounting Tang Gong's twists and turns in the officialdom, Liu Hongji looked outside and saw that it was still early, and then gave Li Xu very serious instructions on how to interact with his superiors, subordinates and colleagues. He was nearly twice as old as Li Xu.
, although he laughs at himself as a boy from a poor family, he is more than a little bit ahead of Li Xu in terms of experience and understanding of human affairs and accidents. Some of the advice has benefited Li Xu a lot. Although Li Xu cannot understand some of the advice for a while, he still regards it as the teachings of an elder.
Keeping it in mind, the two of them talked about it. Unknowingly, it was already late afternoon. The soldiers came in and asked the general of the chariot and cavalry if he had passed the meal. Li Xu quickly stood up and prepared to leave.
"Why don't we drink together? I'll ask Lao Qi to get some fine wine, and we can hide in the military camp and drink secretly!" Liu Hongji thought for a while and suggested with a smile.
"The army is about to cross the Liao Dynasty. We should be careful in case we are caught by the camp patrol. It will not look good on everyone if we issue an impeachment book!" Li Xu smiled and rejected Liu Hongji's kindness. Everyone was already in the military camp.
Tang Gong Li Yuan also turned a blind eye to the habit of secretly drinking. But at this moment, millions of troops were gathered nearby, and the emperor's guards patrolled the camp every day to monitor military discipline. Secretly drinking in the camp has now become a habit.
A very dangerous undertaking
"Okay, after they all cross the river to fight, we brothers who don't have to go to the battlefield can have a good drink!" Liu Hongji nodded and said with a smile.
"Well, I hope the army will conquer Pyongyang soon!" Li Xu sincerely wished
Although he is not optimistic about the outcome of this war, he still hopes that the Sui Dynasty can successfully sweep the caves of Goguryeo. This is not so that he can share some of the credit, but because of the words of Su Chuobei when he was in the Su Chu tribe.
"Will a coward who is unwilling to fight for his own tribe bleed for someone else's tribe?" After a long time, Li Xu had forgotten the pain that these words had brought to him. In his heart, he recognized it.
Although it is said that the Central Plains is its own tribe, this tribe is too big, and the tribal elders are not unified.
As he walked, he was thinking about something. Unknowingly, he had walked back to his tent and was about to open the door. Suddenly, there were several annoying "crows" calling from behind: "Haha, someone is starting to bother me."
Today I saw two children digging in the sand and digging out a corpse!"
No need to guess, Li Xu also knew who the speaker was. Apart from the Yuwen family, no one else came to the door to provoke people with unpleasant habits. He turned around and glanced at the other person. Fang wanted to find an excuse and walked away, but then heard Yuwen
Shiji continued to whisper: "The two children tried their best to bury the body. They said nothing to each other but they didn't see the body, but it was there, and it was in their hearts every day!"
"Does the Prince Consort have anything to do with you?" Li Xu frowned and asked unhappily. Liu Hongji had told him to be patient as much as possible, so no matter how upset he was, he didn't want to fall out with the Yuwen family directly.
"I came here to look for you very early, but when I saw you went to General Liu's camp, I waited outside for more than two hours before I finally waited for you to come out!" Yu Wenshiji knew that he was not welcome.
He still came over and tried his best to squeeze towards the door of Li Xu's tent.
"Brother Hongji and I are good friends, so naturally we talk to each other more!" Li Xu smiled and replied, "dinner will be served in the military camp soon. The food that we big-headed soldiers eat is probably not something the Prince Consort is used to!"
"When there is no conflict of interest, anyone can be friends!" Yu Wenshiji pushed open the door of Li Xu's tent and sat in.
"The people of the Yuwen family seem to have been plotting against Zhong Jian recently!" At the residence of Tang Gong Li Yuan, the eldest son Jiancheng reported to his father in a low voice that Li Yuan was a very dedicated father. Children were usually involved in all family affairs. On the one hand, everyone
You can sit together and feel the warmth of the family. On the other hand, you can also cultivate your sons' practical ability to deal with things when they encounter them.
It is not easy for the Li family in Longyou to get to where it is today. It took several generations of hard work to achieve this result. One of the sons must have a successor who is stronger than his father's generation in order to maintain the glory of the Li family forever.
As children of aristocratic families, they were not born for themselves.
"Brother Zhongjian is not someone who is easily won over. Besides, he is so dull that he may not even realize that the emperor has deliberately lowered his reward!" Before Li Yuan could speak, Li Waner said first. Speaking of Li Xu's dullness, she added
Thinking of the other person's many interesting behaviors, this young man with the same surname is different from all the children from aristocratic families he knows. Sometimes he is silly, and sometimes he is very lovable.
"I'm afraid something happened to Brother Liu. The emperor obviously promoted my father's official position, but in fact took away the last bit of military power in disguise. If Brother Liu is attracted by someone..." Li Shimin reminded his father Li Xu with some worry.
He is just a school lieutenant, about the same age as himself, and has no obvious talent. Even if he is attracted by the Yuwen family, it will not cause much loss to the Li family. But Liu Hongji is different. He is skilled in martial arts, tactful, and has always been able to convince people once he gets out.
Trouble, the Li family has lost more than half of their efforts in recent years.
The food protection soldiers are not just a group of young men waiting to die. Many big families only care about the military power of the government soldiers and fail to pay attention to the potential value of the young men. Although the families behind them are not huge, they number as many as a thousand.
The two hundred giants are supported by one thousand two hundred small and medium-sized families that are rising. The strength of the Li family is enough to improve a lot.
This is the real reason why Li Yuan indulged and protected the food guards. Others can't guess it, but Jiancheng and Shimin will not understand their father's thoughts.
"If the man surnamed Liu doesn't know what's good, just kill him with one knife!" Li Yuanji interjected blankly, attracting a lot of blank looks. He looked at his father's face, and got into his mother's arms dejectedly.
"Hongji knows how to advance and retreat very well, so you don't have to worry about him betraying our Li family." Li Yuan waited for the children to finish speaking before slowly giving his answer. He looked at his two grown sons and one who was involved in the world.
Wei Shen's daughter thought for a while and continued: "Xu Zi is a pure-hearted child who knows how to repay kindness. No matter how much effort the Yuwen family has put in, it is probably of no use. His future achievements may not be as good as Hong Ji's. Now he is with us."
home, but it delays your future.”
"He is a country boy, and his future is all given by you!" Li Yuanji poked his head out of his mother's arms, yelled, and then quickly retracted his head.
"What about you, do you think so too?" Li Yuan unexpectedly said nothing.
