Chapter 289: Die before leaving the apprenticeship
(Seeking collection)
"Your Majesty, you must not send troops at this time."
The old prime minister Lu Sen lifted his robe and knelt down, touching his head to the ground.
"Old Prime Minister, get up quickly. We monarchs and ministers don't have to pay this courtesy when talking here. Didn't I say that today we are discussing it privately, and the matter has not yet been settled. I have not decided to send troops to Xixia, after all.
We men have just been fighting for two months, and our strength has not yet recovered, so it is impractical to raise troops at the expense of our people and money."
Emperor Xiao personally helped Lu Sen up and said.
Lu Sen is already old, and he has worked too hard during this period, and he has obviously aged a lot. In the first two months, he could occasionally straighten his back, but now he is stooped all day long and can hardly walk a few steps.
He was breathing heavily. During the two months of Liu Ling's rebellion, he was so busy in the rear that his feet could not touch the ground. He had no time to relax. After Emperor Xiao went south to work for the army, he even lived and ate in the military aircraft office and never slept more than two hours a day.
At that time, there were two other people in the Military Aircraft Department. Pei Hao was too young and had a lot of work in the Ministry of Justice. He had almost no ability to grasp the state affairs. Hou Shen, the Minister of Rites, had good abilities and experience, but he was too cautious in doing things.
He put on a posture of being responsible for Lu Sen. In this way, almost all state affairs fell on Lu Sen's shoulders alone, and the old man's already no longer broad shoulders became even thinner.
Liu Ling moved a seat for Lu Sen, and together with Emperor Xiao, helped Lu Sen sit down. When Lu Sen refused to do so, Emperor Xiao pressed his shoulders to make him sit down.
Emperor Xiao advised: "I call you Mr. Lu today. You are the highest seniority among the people here today. I remember that the late emperor always asked us brothers to treat you as our elder. In a few days, Yuzhu and Laojiu got married.
You are Lao Jiu's father-in-law, and I am also your junior. The ones who contributed the most to suppressing the rebellion a while ago were you and Lao Jiu. I can't think of anything else to reward you. I only treat you with sincerity. Sit down, don't you?
Sit down, and I will stand with you."
Lu Sen waved his hand and said: "The one who suppressed the rebellion was His Highness the King of Loyalty who commanded the soldiers well and put their lives to good use. The old minister was just a helper from behind. I don't dare to take credit."
Liu Ling said: "Mr. Lu, if you hadn't been working hard to supply the army with food and grass, no matter how brave the soldiers were, they would not be able to defeat hundreds of thousands of rebels when they were hungry. The soldiers all said that Mr. Lu was a reliable person.
He is a person to whom they can trust their back. They say that with Mr. Lu behind them, they feel at ease. With Mr. Lu at the back to support everyone, there is nothing to fear even if there are many enemies in front. Returning to Beijing
At that time, the officers and soldiers of Fuyuan Army and Yingzhou Army asked me to take care of you, saying that they respect you!"
Liu Ling's vacation lasted for ten days, but he had to put on his court clothes and rush to the palace after a late sleep. What he said was very real and without any water. He could rest assured that his back would be handed over to him.
Someone, this is the highest evaluation that soldiers can give someone. It means that this person is the most trustworthy and a friend who can trust his life. Indeed, as Liu Ling said, no matter how small the inventory in the court is, the days
No matter how sad it was, even if Lu Sen tightened his belt, he still couldn't deprive the soldiers at the front of their meals.
Lu Sen was so moved that he felt at a loss what to do, and a rare blush appeared on his ravaged face. Hearing Liu Ling's praise, he couldn't help but shed tears in his dry eyes. Yes, he can be recognized by the soldiers at the front.
, it’s worth it no matter how tired you are.
"Your Majesty is too flattering, and the soldiers love you so much. If it weren't for the annual tribute that Your Majesty used to leave to Daliao, even if the veteran has a strong head and six arms, it would be difficult to maintain the supply to the soldiers at the front. Your Majesty can trust the veteran, so let him do something for the soldiers.
Things. I don’t think I deserve the praises given by the soldiers.”
Lu Sen was a little excited.
In troubled times, if you have to meet the Lord, what else can you ask for?
Emperor Xiao said: "The soldiers will not lie. It is more important for them to trust you than for me to trust you! This job is tiring and painful, but I really can't find anyone else to do it well except you. Pei Hao is too young and inexperienced.
Hou Shen is not familiar with military affairs. I have the guts to let you do it alone, and I feel uneasy. After dealing with the matter in front of me, I will give you a month's holiday to have a good rest. Get some solid sleep for a few days.
Take a nap and sleep until daylight!"
Lu Sen was so moved that he wiped away his tears and said: "I am old and have long passed the time for snoozing. I can run errands for His Majesty for a few days while my body is still strong enough. I have nothing else to do."
Please. I am just afraid that I will not be able to serve His Majesty for a few more years."
Emperor Xiao said: "Don't say that. If you can finish this period of work, go home and have a good rest for a few days. Although Hou Shen and Pei Hao are young, they can still stand alone. You can't always let them hide behind you and enjoy their leisure time, right? I
I only give you one month. After one month, even if you don’t want to come to court, I will arrest you!”
Emperor Xiao reached out his hand and shook it hard.
Lu Sen smiled knowingly and said: "If Your Majesty really wants me to take a break, then I will have the guts to ask Your Majesty to take a few days off after finishing this matter. My unfilial daughter keeps asking me about the wedding date.
No, a girl doesn’t know how to be ashamed. She wants to marry herself off all day long to avoid this bad old man like me. It’s hard for a girl to stay in college, alas..."
Emperor Xiao was surprised, Lu Sen had always been mature and prudent, why was he so anxious to talk about this matter today? It was indeed decided that Lao Jiu would prepare for the wedding after returning from Yuzhou, but he had not yet found time to make arrangements.
First, it was to deal with the affairs of Daliao, then King Hui Liu Zhi colluded with the White Lotus Sect bandits to rebel, and then Ouyang Zhuan also rebelled. After working hard for several months, the matter was delayed. Now, Daliao and Xixia are two tigers.
The biting was getting fierce, and Ye Luxiong asked the Han Dynasty to send troops to help attack Xia. This was what we were discussing today. How could Lu Sen be so rude and couldn't wait to bring up his daughter's marriage?
Emperor Xiao only wanted to understand the meaning after thinking about it for a while. Lu Sen's body seemed to be really running out of oil! He wanted to quickly arrange a way out for his daughter while he could still speak in front of him.
, although he had promised and was the matchmaker for this marriage, Lu Sen must have been afraid that the delay would be too long and that he would not live to see his daughter get married! Emperor Xiao felt sad in his heart. This was the first time Lu Sen had expressed his concern for her.
Make your own demands. This dedicated veteran of two dynasties has dedicated half of his life to the Han Dynasty. Now that he sees that his time is running out, he would mention this matter to him so abruptly and directly!
Emperor Xiao glanced at Liu Ling, and he saw the same look on Liu Ling's face. Was it sympathy? Was it contempt? No! It was respect! Lu Sen only let go of such a look when his life was about to come to an end.
The identity of a courtier was transformed into another identity, that of father.
When Emperor Xiao saw the panic and guilt that could not be concealed on Lu Sen's face, he felt very sad in his heart.
"I promise you! The marriage between Yuzhu and Lao Jiu is my matchmaker, so I will not break my promise!"
Emperor Xiao directly agreed to Lu Sen's request without asking for Liu Ling's opinion. He knew that Lao Jiu would not blame him, definitely not!
When Lu Sen saw Emperor Xiao agreed to his promise, he smiled with relief and said, "I thank you for your kindness, so I can leave with peace of mind."
His words surprised several people. Without giving everyone a chance to speak, Lu Sen stood up tremblingly and said: "Prince Zhong can't escape from his wedding. As the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, I personally led the troops to help the battle. I believe that the Liao Kingdom
Emperor Yelu Xiongji can make sense. But because the old minister is old, if he can't reach Xixia, he will die halfway, so the expedition to Xixia will have to be abandoned."
He smiled confidently, his eyes as bright as stars at this moment!
"No!"
Emperor Xiao and Lu Sen shouted out at the same time, Hou Shen and Pei Hao also stood up and stopped them. Now they truly understood why Lu Sen had uncharacteristically stood up for his daughter just now and put family matters before official matters. How could he be afraid of himself?
Being sick and unable to see the day when his children get married is clearly an act of abandonment! He only has one daughter, Lu Yuzhu, and his wife died early. He has only one relative in the world, his daughter. Only by arranging her daughter's future, can he
Only then can he be willing to die!
"His Majesty!"
Lu Sen interrupted the words of Emperor Xiao and others, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the Military Aircraft Department is not the Military Aircraft Department of the old minister alone. The old minister has been controlling the affairs of the government by himself these days, and your majesty has no doubts, the ministers are not jealous, and the old minister has a very good position.
What else can I ask for? In terms of official positions, no one in the civil service can be better than me. In terms of title, I am already the Duke of the country. However, I am still unwilling to give in. I still want more glory and wealth. But my official position is enough.
Now that I am old, my title is high enough. As long as I am alive, I should not seek greater benefits. The old minister selfishly thought, if the old minister accidentally sacrifices his life for the country and dies on the battlefield, will your majesty give the old minister a bigger reward?
?Will it be able to inspire future generations and leave a name in history?"
He looked at the green leaves on the treetops outside the window. The vigorous vitality was in sharp contrast with his old age. He deliberately did not let Emperor Xiao and Liu Ling interrupt, and seemed to be talking to himself.
"Everyone is greedy, but I usually disguise myself well so that your majesty, prince and colleagues can't see it. Su Xiu has ambitions, and Ouyang has ambitions, but they are following a crooked way. I also have ambitions, and what I want to do is
All I want is to be the number one official in the Han Dynasty! I am very ambitious, so I don’t dare to relax, but I didn’t expect that I will be known as a conscientious person. I am still not satisfied. I live in such troubled times.
, Civil servants are inevitably inferior to military generals, and veteran ministers are not expected to lead armies and generals. It is impossible to command thousands of troops to attack cities and capture territory. But now there is an opportunity in front of the veteran ministers. He can lead troops on an expedition without having to fight the enemy and it will be successful.
, Why don’t you do this, veteran minister?”
He paused, looked at Emperor Xiao who looked sad and said, "Old minister, I don't ask for anything else, I just want a seven-word ending."
He said word for word: "You will die before you leave the army!" (To be continued)
