"Raise the fire!" Liu Hongji knew something was wrong, stood still and ordered loudly.
Several guards who followed stretched their torches forward at the same time. Through the jumping firelight, everyone saw a huge Buddhist pagoda, covered with flies and maggots from the base to the top of the pagoda. At first sight of the fire, the flies were frightened, and the dark clouds
It soared up, instantly revealing the material of the pagoda itself.
They were human heads, hundreds of Sui soldiers' heads piled together. On each head, there was a pair of wide-open eyes.
After being delayed for too long on the road, when Li Xu rushed to the wine table out of breath, everyone was already waiting anxiously. When they saw him finally entering the door, they immediately gathered around and blamed each other: "
You brat, you have just become a school captain and you dare to take care of the eldest son. Are you feeling itchy today?"
"Brothers, don't blame me. I've been here a long time ago. I met a nasty guy on the way and was delayed by him. Today I accept my punishment, accept my punishment!" Li Xu pretended to be scared, and threw his hands around with a grimace. He was about his age.
The youngest, of course, no one could really punish him. They scolded him casually and pulled him to his seat with a smile.
Huaiyuan Town is located near the Hu border, and people usually sit on Hu stools and gather around a table to eat. The head of the household's house is not a restaurant, so everyone has to follow the local customs and gather around three square tables. In this way, the relationship between each other is
The relationship is more intimate than when each person has a case and sits down to drink in sequence.
The host had long known that the soldiers had borrowed the house to borrow the stove today in order to hold an official banquet for Liu and Li, so they had planned it with great care in advance. Later, they learned from the loud mouths of Wang Yuantong and others that there had been an official banquet for Liu and Li.
Liu and Li, who had rested in their own family, were appointed generals and lieutenants by the emperor today. They felt that their family was full of nobility and their reputation was shining. The head of the family ordered to go down, and several women in each room came.
They tried their best to prepare the food and drinks. Therefore, although the banquet was a little simple, with no orchestra or dancing girls to accompany it, it made everyone smile happily.
After three rounds of drinking, congratulations and thanks were finished, and everyone started to challenge each other with wine bowls. Liu Hongji had just been promoted to the rank of Chariot and Cavalry General. As usual, the Ministry of War would ask him to recommend some capable subordinates. The generals in the food protection army usually interacted with each other.
Since he has good relationships, he will naturally have the opportunity to be promoted. Who wouldn’t want to compete for this kind of position where he doesn’t have to take risks on the front line and his boss is considerate and generous? Everyone has their own little plans in mind, and they are polite and complimentary to each other. After a while,
The banquet atmosphere was pushed to the *.
"Xu Zi, you're lucky!" Qi Po Ning came to Li Xu with a wine bowl. He clinked the bowl with Li Xu carelessly and said, "In five months, I have been promoted from captain to captain. Brother, I am the third
It’s the first time I’ve seen someone get promoted so quickly. What kind of fool is it that’s stopping you tonight? It’s not like someone is interested in you and is planning to make you your son-in-law!”
"It makes sense, it makes sense!" The whole room burst into laughter, and the sound made the window paper buzz.
Li Xu, nicknamed Zhongjian, already has a formal official position, so he should be called Zhongjian's wise brother. But he is young and easy-going, so Qi Po Ning prefers to call him Xuzi to show his closeness. He is usually more open-minded.
He also likes to start harmless jokes. But Lao Qi's joke this time was obviously a little too clever. Li Xu didn't understand what was so funny about it. Seeing everyone laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe, he was curious and pulled him over.
Qi Poning asked in a low voice: "Brother Qi, is there really a custom in Huaiyuan of robbing a son-in-law?"
"Pfft!" Wang Yuantong had just drank half a bowl of wine and immediately sprayed it onto the ground. He coughed loudly and said with a smile: "I cough, look, it's almost the same! Not much, cough cough, not much. Our Xuzi age, cough
Cough, appearance, cough cough”
Everyone was laughing so hard that they almost lifted the roof of the house. When they had laughed enough, they all told Li Xu the allusion about wooing his son-in-law.
It turns out that since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, marriages between wealthy families were very important. Really famous families would never marry ordinary people. Even if ordinary people are extremely rich and have piles of gold and jade, those from famous families will be so poor that they have no place to stand and sell their houses.
Due to the predicament of the land, the former is not qualified to interact with the latter.
However, the late emperor of this dynasty decided to launch an imperial examination and select talents regardless of their origins. Therefore, many children from poor families also had the opportunity to join the dynasty as officials and become a new gentry. In order to improve their family status faster, some nouveau riche came up with a strange idea.
Recruit and select young talents as sons-in-law. Every time there is a scientific examination in the capital, they go to the place where the results are released. If there is a poor boy among the high school students and he is not engaged, they will do everything possible to snatch it home and lock him in his daughter's boudoir. After one night,
The rice is cooked, even if the high school students don't want to get married. In this way, the poor boy gets a wife and the funds that will be sent to him in the officialdom in the future, and the poor family who suddenly got rich also has the opportunity to squeeze into the ranks of the rich.
"It's just a joke. I've never seen anyone actually do it like this. It's not a good thing to say. I guess Ziying will scold everyone for being hypocritical again!" Qi Poning finished telling the allusion and looked at Qin Ziying who was silent on the side.
, explained with a smile.
"My younger brother was in a hurry that day, brothers, don't blame me. In fact, none of you want to make your family prosperous. If it wasn't for this, who would study hard or go to war!" Qin Ziying smiled and answered.
There was a large room of people, except for the warrior Yu, everyone else had some background. When his mind was clear, Qin Ziying didn't want to offend all his friends because of his cheerful words.
"Actually, the ups and downs of a family are not something that happens in a blink of an eye. Who has seen the palace of immortality! But Xuzi is successful at a young age, and there are probably not many people who are interested in him!" Liu Hongji was afraid that everyone would arouse Qin Ziying's sadness.
, picked up the wine bowl and joined the teasing team with a smile.
Hearing what Liu Hongji said, everyone became more interested and asked Li Xu to tell the truth about who stopped him on the road. Li Xu was forced to tell the truth about how he met Yu Wenshiji on the road and was pulled by him to chat.
"Master Yuwen was very talkative, and I couldn't offend him, so I had to keep my ears open to listen to his lectures!" Li Xu shook his head and reported to everyone with a wry smile. As for what Master Yuwen actually said, he covered it up in laughter.
Pass.
"It turns out that he was dragged here by His Majesty's son-in-law, not by someone else!" Wang Yuantong never held back his words, and it became even worse after drinking. He teased a few words about Yuwen Shiji's identity and asked with a smile:
"The Yuwen family is the most famous family in this dynasty. Do they have a daughter waiting to be married?"
"I guess there are quite a few. Mr. Yuwenshu has always been diligent in sowing seeds!" Someone nearby agreed in a noisy manner. As a member of the food protection army, anyone who has experienced the inexplicable attack and fight will not have any doubts about the Yuwen family.
There are too many good feelings.
"That's very bad. Xu Zi will suffer a lot now. It is said that the men in the Yuwen family have always been born with women's looks, and their thoughts are as unpredictable as women. But the women in their family, haha, just happened to fall in love with the men!"
"Poor, pitiful, pitiful young talent like Captain Li!" Everyone looked at Li Xu with pity on their faces. It was as if he had become a lamb that had entered the tiger's mouth, waiting for the big tiger of the Yuwen family to bite him at the right time.
.It wasn’t until Li Xu felt so angry that he turned around noisily and looked for other happy topics.
The topic at the wine table never settled on one topic. Everyone was happy and let it go. But Li Xu was inadvertently mentioned something that was on his mind and lacked interest. After having a few bowls of wine, he quietly
He slipped back into his seat.
"You'd better be careful, people from the Yuwen family have always done weird things!" Seeing that everyone's attention was diverted elsewhere, Qin Ziying secretly pulled Li Xu under the table and whispered.
"Does his family like to be difficult with others?" Li Xu thought for a while and asked quietly. His hometown, Yixian County, is remote and the folk customs are relatively simple. Few people talk about the anecdotes within the imperial court. Therefore, Li Xu is not interested in the officialdom.
His knowledge is very little, and it can even be said that it is basically blank. But Yu Wenshiji's weird behavior tonight is very suspicious. It may be said that he is completely malicious, but his words are full of harsh words.
He was kindly reminding him, but Li Xu couldn't see clearly what his motive was?
"Every family will do anything for their own interests. The Yuwen family is big and has a lot to gain, so it has a more ruthless style of doing things. Other families are small and have less to fight for, so they appear to be kind-hearted on the surface. But deep down, in fact,
They are all the same thing!" Qin Ziying looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to herself and Li Xu, and concluded in an extremely low voice.
Ever since his fiancée was forced to run away from home by two old guys, Yu Wenshu and Mai Tiezhang, Qin Ziying's character began to become extreme and his words were extremely sharp. Li Xu always practiced martial arts with him and knew that he was in a depressed mood.
So he didn't mind being hurt by his words occasionally. But Qin Ziying's comments on some of the actions of the wealthy family were profound in Li Xu's eyes.
"Is the Yuwen family big?" Li Xu poured a bowl of wine for Qin Ziying and asked in a low voice.
Liu Hongji went to another table to thank his brothers, and the excitement moved to another table with him. Li Xu had something on his mind, and Qin Ziying was in a bad mood, so the two happened to sit together and communicate secretly.
"Big, to say the least, it can be called the legacy of the royal family of the previous dynasty. During the transition between the previous dynasty and this dynasty, he contributed to the late emperor and killed all his own people as catbags. Therefore, he was specially left by the late emperor to guard the incense of the Yuwen family.
.Now that the emperor is here, because of his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion, he is blessed with children, and has a lot of generals and ministers in his family! In fact, he is just a sheep-herding slave, and he only rose to power in a few days..." Qin Ziying used extremely short and sharp words.
He introduced the background of the Yuwen family to Li Xu, using his best sarcasm and sarcasm.
Yuwenshu's original surname was Poyantou, and he was a slave of the Xianbei tribe who returned home after Doudou. When Emperor Wei Xiaowen reformed, all Xianbei people changed their surname to Han. The owner of Poyantou changed his surname to Yuwen, and as a slave, he had to follow him. Later Yuwen
The ancestors of the family had unique vision during the successive dynasties and slowly established their own family. By the time of Yuwenshu's father Yuwensheng's generation, he had already become a general of the Zhu Kingdom in the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
In the first year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign, the Northern Zhou Dynasty lost all power and abdicated the country to the Sui Dynasty. Many children of the Yuwen family were ignorant of current affairs and raised their troops to rebel. Yuwenshu joined the army as a young man, killed all his people, and made great contributions to the Sui Emperor.
He was promoted to Shangzhu Kingdom and praised the Duke of the Kingdom.
Later, in the Sui Dynasty's war to cleanse the south of the Yangtze River and pacify the Western Regions, Yuwenshu made a lot of contributions. Of course, his greatest contribution was to raise a handsome and handsome son, Yuwen Shiji, who became a son-in-law with the current emperor.
"I'm so unlucky!" After hearing the origins of the Yuwen family, Li Xu muttered in a low voice. Thinking that he had gotten into such trouble just now, he felt a little uneasy. Thinking about it again.
Yu Wenshi and his comment that Tang Gong Li Yuan was deliberately wooing him instead of treating him sincerely made his mood even more gloomy. Even the wine in his mouth suddenly turned bitter.
Seeing Li Xu's crying face, Qin Ziying thought that he was afraid. After thinking about it carefully, he comforted him in a low voice: "But you don't have to worry. With your generous performance on the general stage today, Duke Tang will definitely miss you. Even if
The Yuwen family has failed to win over you and is in trouble with you. With Duke Tang here, they need to think carefully!"
"Justice?" Li Xu asked with some suspicion. During the day, he made a mistake in answering His Majesty the Emperor's question on the general stage, causing Tang Gong to quickly come out to explain that he was not deliberately taking care of his nephew. Now think about it, was the situation at that time good?
Embarrassing! For such a confused behavior, Mr. Tang is being generous if he doesn’t care about himself. How can he think that he is being righteous?
"If I were you, when the emperor asked about that sentence, the logical answer would be, 'I had never met Tang Gong before coming to Huaiyuan, and it was only when I got here that I realized that we were of the same race.' Instead of thinking that we are his nephew. Your answer is tantamount to
Thought that Tang Gong's confidant had displeased many people, it was unpredictable. At that time, in order to avoid the suspicion of nepotism, Tang Gong had to defend himself to the emperor on the surface. But privately, he felt that you were grateful for your kindness.
, not to be moved by the wealth in front of you. Afterwards, he will naturally think more highly of you. Take a step back, even if he does not accept your affection today, if others know that you are Tang Gong's confidant and still want to harm you, it is equivalent to directly asking for help.
The Li family is provocative, so he can't help but intervene!"
"Ah!" Li Xu opened his mouth wide, half a piece of chicken was stuffed in his throat, and he couldn't swallow it or spit it out. After listening to Qin Ziying's analysis, he finally understood that answering a question from the emperor involved so many gains and losses.
Among them. Since he is already a direct descendant of the Li family in the eyes of others, it is no wonder that Yu Wenshiji came to his door to sow discord.
Look at Liu Hongji, who is holding a wine bowl and drinking with his brothers one by one at the table next to him, look at Zhou Wenyuan, who looks drunk but not drunk, but his eyes are extremely sharp, and look at Qin Ziying next to him, who is analyzing the situation for him seriously.
.He suddenly discovered that there was so much knowledge about being a human being, which was far higher than the books he had memorized since childhood.
"Look at those aristocratic families, all of them are gentle on the surface, but in fact they are very dirty inside." Qin Ziying was a little drunk, lying on Li Xu's shoulder, muttering vaguely, "But this world is just for them.
", he looked at Liu Hongji, who was surrounded by everyone, and continued to whisper in Li Xu's ear: "If you want to do something serious, you must either attach yourself to a noble family or establish a family yourself, otherwise
There’s absolutely nowhere to start!”
.......
"What I am most proud of in this life is that I have established a family, and I can leave you many generations of wealth!" In the Baili Company Camp, the old general Mai Tiezhang looked at his three sons and said with a smile. Accepted during the day
During the emperor's inspection, he caught some cold, and when he returned to the camp at night, he felt a little achy in his bones. The army doctor and his sons all advised him not to strive for the crossing of Liao, but the old general smiled and declined these well-meaning suggestions.
At that time, the Chen Empire was wiped out, and countless people died in the sword. However, some of the wealthy families were able to survive and seek wealth in the new court.
It is always ordinary people who are unlucky. The more powerful a family is, the easier it is to survive the storm and get the best of both worlds. General Mai smiled and looked through the darkness, as if he saw himself again yesterday.
He has built a family with his own hands, the Mai family. This family is no worse than any century-old family. It is enough for life to be like this! (To be continued)
