Two days later, the two arrived in Liaodong County. They first found a local wealthy businessman and paid half a fortune to leave the horses. Then they asked the owner to borrow a room, a washbasin, and fetched cold water to tidy up their clothes.
The war is about to begin, and Liaodong County is passing troops day by day. Ordinary soldiers capture the people and herd their horses. It would be fine if they don't take the opportunity to extort money, but how can they give half a cent? The owner of the house can't touch five hundred pieces of meat, so it's not good to take them.
He didn't dare to take it back. He stood at the door until the two of them had finished packing, then crept forward and prayed in a low voice: "Two generals, please take back the reward. I was born in the Sui Dynasty and contributed some efforts to the country.
Originally, it was supposed to be. This money is tens of millions, I would never dare to accept it."
"Take it, we two are going to the city on business. These one hundred horses will be taken care of by your family. Once they are taken care of, there will be money for them. If someone steals the horses..." Liu Hongji dusted off his hands.
The skin bean on the head indicates the correct color. (Note 2)
"I don't dare, I don't dare!" the homeowner assured loudly.
Liu Hong basically looked rich and noble, and now he was wearing brocade clothes and a leather crown, which made him look even more extraordinary. How could ordinary people dare to offend such a son of a government official? For a moment, the head of the household was so frightened that he bowed repeatedly and said he didn't dare.
, half a bunch of money shook like rosary beads.
"Old man, please keep the money. We are not bad people, and we will not deliberately cause trouble for you!" Li Xu saw that the host was really pitiful, so he stepped forward and made a big bow as a junior, and whispered comfort. (Note 3
)
"Kill the little old man, kill the little old man!" The head of the household shivered more and more when he saw a young man in a brocade robe and tiara paying such a grand tribute to him. He put down half a bunch of copper coins, put his hands up to his eyebrows, and bent his knees to return the bow.
Liu Hongji was really impatient. He rushed forward and grabbed his arm, shouting: "You can accept it if I ask you to accept it. It only takes half a day. Can the two of us still blackmail you?!"
"I don't dare, I don't dare!" the head of the household replied tremblingly, but in the end he still couldn't return the bow. Liu Hongji didn't want to waste any more time, so he took Li Xu out and picked out two horses that looked like
Turkic military horses of the same color and more majestic appearance rode all the way to Huaiyuan Town.
Huaiyuan Town is a place where grain is stored, and the security is naturally much tighter than that of Liucheng and other places. Dozens of soldiers stood at the door with swords and guns, inspecting the passers-by one by one. From their appearance, body shape to the calluses on their hands, there was something suspicious.
Don't let it go.
Li Xu practiced martial arts with his coppersmith master for more than half a year, and the calluses on his hands were all worn out by holding weapons. Just as he was worried about how to pass, Liu Hongji picked up the reins of his horse and accelerated towards the city gate.
"Get out of the way, get out of the way, the uncle has urgent business!" Liu Hongji took the lead and shouted domineeringly. The people who were waiting for inspection at the door heard the sound of horse hooves and quickly stepped aside. The guard guard wanted to stop him, but took a look.
The tall horse looked at the brocade robe on its back, and immediately became frightened. He picked up his sword and spear and stood upright in the doorway.
The two figures flashed past the door and ran for more than half a mile before the city gate officer came back to his senses. He wiped the dust on his head with his sleeves and spat heavily on the ground: "What is that?"
I'm just a good man. If grandpa and I were born with a silver spoon in my mouth, huh, I'm already standing up. What about you, come one by one, squeeze whatever you want, grandma, you're busy buying a coffin!"
Huaiyuan Town is a small town, and the streets are not complicated. Liu Hongji asked someone casually, and asked where the yamen of the officials in charge was. However, he did not enter the yamen, and took Li Xu straight to the corner gate in the north of the courtyard.
He got off his horse ten steps away from the corner gate, held the reins and walked slowly over.
Before he reached the door, a servant came to greet him. Liu Hongji took out a jade plaque from his luggage, handed it to the servant, and said loudly: "This is the Tang Apartment. Please let me know, I have an old friend."
My son, the son of the Liu family, has come to pay homage to his elders!"
"This is the back house of Mr. Tang's family. Please wait, I will send a message for you right now!" When the servant heard that he was the son of an old friend, he quickly took the jade plaque and bowed to the ground.
Liu Hongji stretched out his hand to help each other, and when the other person stood up, he stuffed a small string of copper coins into his sleeve. The servant was used to greeting and seeing off guests, and he could tell from the sudden increase in weight in his sleeve that what was happening in front of him was
The young master gave me a large gift, thanked him, and ran in anxiously.
A moment later, footsteps sounded again in the yard. When the door opened, it was the same servant who came out. He saluted first, then took out a square towel to wipe his sweat, and said breathlessly: "I, my master is going to the military camp.
I am on business and have not returned yet. Sir, please invite these two distinguished guests to the front door, where he will greet old friends!"
Liu Hongji thanked him, threw the horse's reins to the servant, pulled Li Xu up and walked to the front door. The servant looked at each other until the two figures were far away, and then he led the two horses one by one.
In the courtyard.
The Sui Dynasty inherited the Han system, and all government offices faced south. If the position was high enough to bring family members to the office, the official's wife, children, and children were usually placed in the back house of the government office. For official business, guests would always go to the front door, and only personal relationships were good.
Only friends or younger members of the family entered through the back door. Hundreds of years later, greed and sycophancy became popular, and the term "back door" came from this. This is a story for later, so we won't mention it for now.
The guest who alerted the host and came to the front door to greet him was a distinguished guest of the family. Therefore, although Liu Hongji asked for an audience with the courtesy of a junior, the host arranged to greet him at the front door.
Li Xu had no official experience and was completely unaware of these rules. He was pulled by Liu Hongji and slowly walked to the front office. The front door of the front office was also wide open, but it was a place for handling state affairs, not a place for welcoming guests.
The two of them passed by the main entrance, walked a few steps forward, and stopped at the side door in front.
The front side door for VIPs to enter and exit had already been opened by the servants. Several neatly dressed male servants held long brooms and symbolically "swept" a path in front of the door. The host greeted Liu Hongji with a smile.
He stood still, put his hands on his heart, hugged his chest, bowed and said: "Jianjiancheng has met Brother Hongji. I didn't know that my brother was coming from afar, so I couldn't go out to greet you. I hope you don't blame me!"
Over there, Liu Hongji had also bowed his body and said excitedly: "Coming here without telling me is very presumptuous. Please don't laugh at my abruptness!"
The two bowed to each other, and then they held hands and said with a smile: "You and I haven't seen each other for more than three years. I didn't expect to meet here today!"
After laughing enough, Liu Hongji pulled Li Xu forward and introduced the two of them, "This is another good brother of mine, Shanggu Li Xu, courtesy name Zhongjian. This is my good friend since childhood, the eldest son of Mr. Tang."
The son has been built, and his name is Zigu!" (Note 4)
When Li Xu heard this, he quickly stepped forward, clasped his fists tightly to his chest, and made a hand-over salute. Jiancheng had an official position, so he shook his hands and returned the hand-over salute as a scholar meets the common people.
After greeting each other, Liu and Li entered the house at the invitation of their host. As they walked, Jiancheng asked: "Brother Zhongjian was born in the Li family of Shanggu. I wonder if he has anything to do with the ancient flying general!"
"Li is not talented and deserves the reputation of his ancestors!" Li Xu handed over his hand again and replied seriously.
The Li family in Shanggu has always claimed to be the descendant of Flying General Li Guang. Although Li Xu was born at the end of the branch, this bloodline inheritance can be regarded as genuine, so he answered freely, and the respectful expression on his face when he mentioned his ancestors was not artificial at all. Listen.
At this, Tang Gong's eldest son Jiancheng was overjoyed. He took Li Xu's hand and laughed and said, "In this way, we are of the same race, and our ancestor King Wuzhao is also the queen of the flying generals."
"I haven't met Brother Shi yet!" Liu Hongji said with a smile and a push on Li Xu's shoulder.
"Zhongjian pays homage to the elder brother!" Li Xu blushed and saluted. The highest official he had seen since childhood was Bu Xiaowei, so ever since he heard the word "Tang Gong" from Liu Hongji's mouth, he had been extra cautious.
He was afraid that he might inadvertently answer a wrong sentence or hear a word wrongly. Now that Liu Hongji said that the two of them were brothers, he could no longer bow to each other like strangers did when they met for the first time. He stood up straight and respectfully.
He bowed respectfully. Even though he just held his fists, held his heart, and bowed, he was still so tired that sweat broke out on his forehead.
"I've met Brother Zhongjian!" Li Jiancheng smiled and bowed in return.
When no one was paying attention, Li Xu secretly wiped his forehead, feeling regretful that he had accompanied Liu Hongji to suffer this crime. He had heard of the name of King Li Hao of Wuzhao in Liang. In order to enhance his own status, the Li family of Shanggu deliberately named this person.
A member of the family who could not be hit by eight poles entered the family tree. According to seniority, Li Xu can be regarded as the ninth generation grandson of this person and the twenty-fifth generation descendant of Han general Li Guang. Li Jiancheng also said that after Li Guang, if the two
How many generations apart could he still go up and call me grandpa?
While he was thinking wildly, he heard Li Jiancheng say: "My father has gone to the military camp to handle official business, so he cannot come to greet you. You two can go to the guest room to sit for a while. I have sent someone to inform you, and my father will rush back as soon as he gets the letter!"
"Can I go see my aunt first?" Liu Hongji asked with a smile.
"Mother is happy that Brother Hongji has arrived!" Li Jiancheng replied with a smile. The three of them walked a few steps forward, walked around a corridor, and were led by servants. They first placed Li Xu in the guest room to drink tea. Then Liu Hongji
He took Jiancheng to visit Tang Gong's wife Dou.
After everyone's footsteps had faded away, Li Xu just took a breath. Along the way, he bowed his hands and held his hands together. He was so tired from talking about words that he didn't bother to see what the Duke's house was.
At this moment, I sat down in the guest room and realized that the furnishings of the so-called noble house were also very simple. The entire guest room was just a table, two chairs, two high-waisted vases, and a set of four treasures of the study. It was not as good as some I had seen.
The local rich man's house is luxurious, but the room is a little cleaner, and the windows are not covered with paper, but with pieces of snow-like white gauze.
Under the south window, there was a qin. It was antique and the string surface was spotless. It had obviously been wiped by someone every day. Li Xu put down his tea bowl, strolled forward, and flicked it with his hands. The sound of the qin was like falling water from a mountain.
Every mistake has its consequences.
Even though his piano skills were mediocre, he knew that this was a good piano. Looking carefully at the surface of the piano, he saw that the mottled pattern was full of ancient charm, and there were slight cracks at the end of the piano, with some signs of burnt marks.
"Jiaowei!" Li Xu was shocked and quickly moved away from the piano. This is a treasure worth tens of millions and was made by Cai Yong of the Han Dynasty. The current emperor is very talented. To be appreciated by him, students from all over the country must play it well.
It was "Cai's Five Nongs". Thinking of all the preparations he had made to obtain fame, his heart jumped suddenly and violently. (Note 5)
In order to come to see Mr. Tang, Liu Hongji specially pulled him to buy several complete sets of clothing when passing by Lulong County. If Wu Heita and others saw Li Xu, he now had a scholar's crown and brocade robe hanging around his waist and looked down upon the man with a long sword.
His weird appearance would definitely make him laugh out loud. But this kind of gentle and elegant behavior was once Li Xu's dream. Before leaving his hometown in Yixian County, he expected countless times that he would grow up to be a gentle scholar.
Thinking of my ambition back then, the wanted notice I saw when I passed through Liucheng came to mind again. The so-called Li Fuli and Xu Dayan must be myself and Xu Dayan. Why did the government make such a stupid mistake? Not only did they get their names wrong
, even their looks are so different?
In any case, he has now become a wanted criminal. Is Tang Gong really willing to take the responsibility and help two strangers escape the crime? Li Xu is not sure, nor does he dare to ask for it. His heart is "thumping", and "thumping" is chaotic.
I was dancing so much that my scalp was numb. (To be continued)
