As the New Year approaches, the houses of aristocratic families, royal relatives and nobles come and go with carriages and horses, and the doors and courtyards are bustling with relatives and friends. New Year's gifts from colleagues in the court are delivered to the mansion, and New Year's gifts sent to other families are also transported from the warehouse.
It should be noted that the exchange of favors is a custom that has been passed down for thousands of years and should not be neglected in the slightest.
There were cars and horses in front of the Duke of Zhao's Mansion, and there was an endless stream of guests. Carloads of gifts were delivered to the mansion. Although everyone in the government and the public felt that the eldest son's family had long lost its former glory and power, there was no sign of the family's decline.
color.
At least now Changsun Wuji is still honored as Taifu, Duke of Zhao, and no one dares to lack the human sophistication he deserves.
…
It's a cold day today, the north wind is blowing, and snowflakes are falling from time to time.
In front of the study door, two young officials stood with their heads bowed. In front of them, a servant of the eldest grandson's family stood out with his chest and belly, a smile on his face, but no respect in his eyes. He said with a faint smile: "Good teaching, you two."
As you know, my master was very tired when he had guests last night. He is currently checking the gift list in the study and has no time to meet you two."
One of the officials, who was fair and thin, cupped his hands and said, "We feel that Duke Zhao is tired, but we were entrusted by His Highness the King of Jin before we came here to see Duke Zhao, but we dare not fulfill our mission."
The servant of Changsun's family still had a smile on his face, but his words were rejected thousands of miles away: "Of course, I dare not violate the orders of His Highness King Jin. But please understand that it is not easy for my family's master. After all, he is old.
As a result, your physical strength is not as strong as in previous years. It would be difficult for everyone to meet everyone who comes to see you. You may as well leave your name card and the old slave will give it to the master of the house. You will definitely meet him when he comes to see His Highness the King of Jin.
If you explain the reasons for your dereliction of duty, His Highness the King of Jin will not blame you."
He has seen many people like this.
They are just some children from small families who, relying on chance or unfashionable connections, were able to enter the court and serve as officials, and they relied on trickery to get close to the prominent figures in the court. There was no loss in being out of sight, anyway.
He is a humble man, and his New Year gifts are too shabby, but once he catches the eye of a big shot, he can rise to great heights with a little help.
As for raising the face of His Highness the Prince of Jin... it is even more impossible to allow him to come in and ask for an audience. If everyone under the banner of the Prince of Jin comes to visit, the Changsun family will treat him as an honored guest, then how will the Changsun family be seen in the eyes of others?
Shouldn’t he become an existence that is dependent on King Jin and dare not disobey any of King Jin’s orders?
The current situation is that if the King of Jin wants to fight for the throne, he must rely on the Changsun family, instead of the Changsun family, which will collapse without the King of Jin.
Even if this is the case, the character of the Changsun family must be shown...
This servant is the head of Changsun's family. He has worked under Changsun Wuji for half his life. Although he has a bad nature of looking down on others, he is not as shallow and mean as he appears. He is well aware of Changsun Wuji's usual behavior.
, deliberately making things difficult for these two young officials, in order to show that the Changsun family was in a dominant position in the cooperation with the King of Jin.
The two young officials looked ugly, but Changsun Wuji was famous, but they did not dare to offend him. Although it was really embarrassing to be despised and lectured by a servant, they could only endure it.
They all handed over their name cards and said, "In that case, please give our name cards to Zhao Guogong and inform him of the details."
The servant did not utter a word to ridicule him. He took the name card respectfully and said with a smile: "It must be true."
The two young officials said: "Then let's take our leave for now and come to visit you again when we have the opportunity."
The servant smiled and bowed: "You two, go slowly."
The two young officials turned around and walked out of the gate of Zhao Guogong's Mansion under the leadership of two servants. They stood on the street and looked back at the tall gate and the four gilt characters "Zhao Guogong's Mansion" on the plaque.
The air of injustice surged and stirred.
I am also at an age when I have great ambitions, and I am full of passion and want to show my ambitions. But now I am being ignored like this, how can I not be angry?
The two turned around and boarded the carriage and lowered the curtain. The fair and thin official said angrily: "This is too much! We came here with His Highness's orders, but we were turned away and couldn't even see each other! Duke Zhao Guo not only looked down on him
How have we ever put His Highness in our eyes? Today's humiliation will be etched in my heart, Li Chao, and I will never forget it!"
The other person was relatively calm, frowning and saying worriedly: "Looking at the posture of this servant, you can see what Duke Zhao's attitude is towards His Highness. Now Your Highness has to rely on Duke Zhao's power to fight for the throne, but even if he wins a great victory in the future.
Following the unification, we must also face the domineering power of Duke Zhao. It will be even more difficult to dominate the world and hold the sun and moon in our hands."
Li Chao said angrily: "So what? Your Highness is just pretending to be a coward at the moment. As long as he succeeds in fighting for the throne, he will be the master of the world. His eldest grandson Wuji mainly does not rebel, but he has to be honest? We will definitely help him.
Your Highness will cut off his wings and take over the imperial power!"
The other person frowned, but said nothing.
…
In the study room.
The servant put the two name cards on the desk and told the two young officials what they had said and their purpose.
Changsun Wuji nodded slowly and said calmly: "You did a good job."
Just as the slave thought, now he must occupy a dominant position in the cooperation between King Jin, otherwise, not to mention that he will not be able to seize greater benefits in the future, if he cannot suppress King Jin at the moment, he will be allowed to do what he wants.
How can we win against the crown prince's heir apparent?
Get close when you should be close, and don't neglect when you should be ignored.
I picked up the two name cards and unfolded them to take a look. One of them said Yuan Gongyu, a native of Fule, Chen County, Tongshi Shiren, and the other one said Li Chao, a native of Changle, Weizhou, the censor of the patrol.
…
"Okay, let's get down."
Very satisfied with the slave's behavior.
They are just two children from a small family, and their official ranks are not high. One is in the lower seventh rank, and the other is in the eighth rank. They don't have to worry about offending the family behind them, and they can use this to show their attitude to the King of Jin. It is very appropriate.
He casually threw the two name cards aside, picked up the tea cup on the table and took a sip of tea.
There was a sound of footsteps at the door, and Sun Jun, the eldest son of the third son, and Sun Wen, the eldest son of the fourth son, walked in one after the other.
"I've met my father!"
They both bowed and saluted.
"Um."
Changsun Wuji nodded and said, "Sit down and talk."
"Here."
The two of them sat one on the left and one on the right under Changsun Wuji.
Changsun Wuji put down the tea cup and asked, "Aren't you two responsible for accepting the New Year's gifts? Why did you come to your father's side?"
Changsun Wen had a more irritable personality and said angrily: "Father doesn't know something. Guan Long, an old man like this, is really bullying people!"
Changsun Wuji's face turned a little dark...
Changsun Wen was startled. He knew that he had said something wrong. His father, Changsun Wuji, was a member of Guan Long. Didn't he even get scolded?
He quickly said: "I have been receiving New Year's gifts with my third brother these past two days. Guanlong and other families who are all well-off have all sent New Year's gifts, and my son and third brother have also given gifts in return according to their respective proportions. But these families are just If you send your heirs here without even seeing a greeting card from the head of the family, doesn’t it mean you don’t take my eldest grandson’s family seriously?”
Changsun Jun also said: "It is true. These people have always relied on their father to show off their power. Now that my father has become alienated from His Majesty, he has begun to break away from my family in various ways. It is really disgusting."
Changsun's family has always been the leader of Guanlong. Which family is not eager to curry favor? Now, in order to gain greater benefits for Guanlong, the relationship between Changsun Wuji and His Majesty Li Er has become estranged, and each of them is jealous. As a result, On the contrary, these Guanlong families are eager to keep distance from the eldest grandson family...
Even if there is such a thing as Changsun Huan, how could the Changsun family ever be in any way dissatisfied with the Guanlong nobles? Now the Changsun family is fighting hard for the interests of Guanlong, but the rest of the family has put aside the relationship like this, which is really disturbing. Human teeth are cold.
Changsun Wuji disagreed.
He has been in the court for most of his life, and is used to seeing clouds rise and fall, prosperity and decline. He understands the warmth and warmth of human relationships, and benefits oneself at the expense of others. How can he get angry because of the deliberate alienation of the Guanlong nobles?
As long as he can support the King of Jin to win the throne, no matter how alienated those people are from him today, they will rush to curry favor with him in the future.
In the final analysis, Guanlong is of the same blood, and it is not something that can be alienated just by anyone who wants to...
He didn't care about this, but looked at Changsun Jun and said: "You go back and make preparations. After the new year, you will go to the Western Regions on behalf of your father."
Changsun Jun was stunned: "What are your instructions, father?"
Changsun Wuji picked up the tea cup, paused, and whispered: "Go to Damascus to deliver a letter..."