Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

"Hahaha!" King Han laughed: "General Murong finds it strange that I, a member of the Li family clan, say such things, but I want to test the general's mind through you?"

Murong Miao laughed, but did not speak, but he acquiesced. The King of Han stroked his beard, picked up the wine glass, took a sip, and sighed: "Speaking of which, I am also a blessed man. He was born in the second year of Wude (619 AD). In that year, Guanzhong had already been pacified, and Shuzhong Jianghuai, Hanoi and other places have been pacified, and my father and brothers fought on the battlefield and suffered a lot. I was still a newborn baby at that time, so I was very favored by Emperor Gaozu, and was named King of Song when I was only two years old. A few years later, all the heroes were defeated, Several brothers killed each other for the throne, and they fought fiercely. I was only a seven or eight-year-old child at the time, so naturally I would not be involved. No matter which brother became the emperor in the end, he would not be involved. Treat me harshly. From then on, I was granted the title of Governor of Xuzhou, King Xu, General of the Right Army, and was renamed King of Han and appointed Governor of Luzhou, with a real title of Thousand Households. I like learning, so Emperor Taizong Wen collected all the treasures from all dynasties in the palace. The document was given to me. After the late emperor ascended the throne, he treated me as an elder in the clan, and he was always rewarded generously. It can be said that I have not made any achievements in this life, and I have never worked hard, but I have enjoyed wealth and honor. It can be said that I am the best in the world. Blessed are you!”

"This old man is really self-aware!" Murong Miao thought to himself, but said: "The king is rich in blessings, but others cannot envy him!"

"Deep blessings?" King Han smiled: "I am already in the age of hearing. It can be said that I am blessed, but the world is turned upside down. As soon as I close my eyes, it has nothing to do with me. The same cannot be said for my children and grandchildren. In the emperor's family, those who are blessed are especially blessed, and those who are not blessed will not be able to live in ordinary people's homes. General Murong, do you know why I said these things to you?"

"This -" Murong Miao smiled bitterly and said, "Things shouldn't have reached the point that the king said, right?"

"Hehehe!" King Han sighed: "General Murong, I was born in an emperor's family. What haven't you seen in the past few decades? What haven't you heard? The emperor of the Han Dynasty broke through the Aoguan Pass, entered the pass, and then marched to Lantian. Later, What happened? The prince of Qin tied a baby around his neck to make a team, built a white horse and plain chariot, and carried the emperor's seal to welcome Pei Gong! This is the end of a conquered king after a defeat!"

"This -" Murong Miao was sweating profusely: "These are completely different things! The emperor of the Han Dynasty entered the country to destroy the Qin Dynasty; the general was a treacherous villain who attacked and imprisoned the emperor. How can we generalize!"

"It's the same thing!" King Han sighed and said: "When Emperor Gaozu of this dynasty raised troops from Jinyang, he did not say that he wanted to destroy the Sui Dynasty. After entering Chang'an, he welcomed Yang You as emperor, that is, Emperor Gong of the Sui Dynasty. Respecting Emperor Yang as the Supreme Emperor, he called himself a fake Huangyue, envoy Chijie, governor of all internal and external military affairs, prime minister, recorder of affairs, and was granted the title of King of the Tang Dynasty. We all know what happened later. Others are fake. , the victory or defeat on the battlefield cannot be faked. When the general wins, he wins. No matter what he says, he can't change the result that he has defeated all the enemies. Since I can't change this fact, the only thing I can do is Let the children of the Li family not end up in such a miserable situation!"

Hearing what King Han said, Murong Miao felt as if there were thousands of sharp thorns pricking him under his butt. It was extremely uncomfortable, and he couldn't help but secretly regret why he came to see the old King Han. He knew in his heart that most of what King Han said was true, but the problem was that so far, Wang Wenzuo had not shown any signs of trying to usurp the throne. What was even worse was that everyone knew that Wang Wenzuo had such a strong attachment to the emperor today. Special feelings. If you get involved, who knows if you will make a wrong move and lead to disaster?

"Your Majesty!" Murong Miao said with a bitter smile: "These words you said are really not what a minister should listen to. I can tell you that the General's feelings towards Your Majesty have never changed, and he has absolutely no intention of usurping the throne. Heart!"

"Yes!" King Han said with a smile: "That's why I say that sacrifices belong to the emperor and government belongs to the general! If it had been anyone else, I wouldn't have said this. How many people in the world can be as satisfied as the general? What about those who are interested in political affairs and don’t covet big positions?”

"Then, why are you telling me these things, Your Majesty?" Murong Miao asked, "No matter what, your surname is Li after all!"

"It's because my surname is Li that I say this!" King Han sighed: "Now that the situation has become great, there are many people who want to take credit from the dragon and reach the sky in one step. For these people, we who are in high positions, The descendants of the Li family who enjoy generous salaries are where the natural merit comes from. There will definitely be many people reporting to the general, saying that we and the descendants of the Li family are plotting a rebellion. Who can explain clearly by then? I am already over 10 years old. Sixty years old, even if you die tomorrow, you are already in your middle years, so what regrets do you have? I just don’t want my descendants of the Li family to end up like the descendants of the Yuan family and Yuwen family!"

After hearing what King Han said, Murong Miao finally understood. The old man in front of me has a wide range of knowledge and profound thoughts, which is really unparalleled by other people. In his opinion, after Wang Wenzuo defeated Pei Xingjian, it was an unstoppable fait accompli that the central power of the Tang Dynasty fell into his hands. When the Yuwen family and the Gao family usurped the Yuan family, and the Yang family usurped the Yuwen family, in order to combat the power of the previous dynasty, the invaders massacred the clan members of the previous dynasty and almost wiped them out. The King of Han was most afraid of this kind of situation, so he chose to take the initiative to support Wang Wenzuo and help facilitate the situation of "Li family sacrifices and Wang family politics" in exchange for less bloodshed and even no death for the Li family. bleed.

"Your Majesty, you have indeed thought deeply!" Murong Miao sighed: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will definitely convey your thoughts to the General!"

"Then thank you General Murong!" King Han waved his hand: "My child, if you haven't come to thank General Murong, the lives of more than a hundred people in my family depend on General Murong!"

Prince Han hurried forward, knelt down and bowed down to Murong Mu, raised his wine and said, "Thank you, General Murong, for saving your life!"

How could Murong Miao dare to accept such a great gift? He quickly stood up and stepped out of the way, saying, "Your Majesty, your words are serious! You must not do it!"

However, the Crown Prince of Han insisted on bowing down. Murong Miao had no choice but to accept his bow and sighed: "The Crown Prince has defeated the last general!"

Everyone sat down again, and Prince Han ordered the dancers and musicians to come up again to sing, dance, and make music. The atmosphere in the hall was already very different from before. Murong Miao drank a few cups and felt a little smokey. King Han on the side asked: "This time you are returning to Shaanxi Province, the general must have other important tasks, right?"

Murong Mu glanced at King Han and felt that there was no need to keep hiding it from him. Anyway, with this old man's mind, he could guess a lot, so he nodded: "Yes, the general ordered me to In Chang'an Duobu Ermu!"

"Haha!" King Han smiled: "Dobu Ermu, the general is still a kind man!"

"Oh? How do you say that?"

"Pei Xingjian was captured, and the army entered the pass. He did not lead the troops directly to Chang'an, but went to organize the canal transportation and transport grain to Chang'an. The most he could do was to set up more eyes and ears in Chang'an! Isn't this a kind person? If it had been anyone else, I'm afraid it would have been early. Just live in Daming Palace!"

"That's true!" Murong Miao said with a smile: "I think the general's intention is mostly to protect himself and avoid things like Pei Judao and King Pei!"

"Yes!" King Han sighed: "General, it is better to enter Chang'an earlier. It will calm people's hearts and save some people from coming up with all kinds of bad ideas after a long time!"

"What does your Majesty mean -?" Murong Miao asked puzzledly.

"Didn't you hear?" King Han smiled: "There were rumors a few days ago that the emperor was going to move west to Shu; there was also talk that the emperor was going to Lingwu to summon the troops from Longyou to fight against the general again! "

"Isn't this a joke?" Murong Miao said with a bitter smile: "Not to mention how difficult the road to Shu is, there are no soldiers in Shu! Even if you go to Shu, I'm afraid you won't even be able to get the only emperor who is loyal to you; as for the troops in Longyou, then The border is resisting the fierce attack of the Tibetans, and the food and wages in the warehouse are only enough for a few months. How can we deal with the general with these?"

"General Murong is right! But the problem is that if the general does not enter Chang'an for a day, people's hearts will be unstable; if people's hearts are not stable, all kinds of troubles will happen!" King Han said with a smile.

"What the king said is true, but unfortunately I am so soft-spoken that I can't persuade the general!" Murong Miao said with a bitter smile. "I have an idea!" King Han said with a smile.

"Can you allow the general to come to Chang'an?" Murong Mu asked anxiously.

"Of course I don't have this ability, but I can try to ask the emperor to go on a tour of Shaanxi Province and let the two of them meet to eliminate the misunderstanding between them!" King Han smiled and said: "General Murong, what do you think?"

"Seriously, that's great!" Murong Miao was overjoyed when he heard this: "Okay, if this can be done, I will definitely report the king's contribution to the general!"

"I am not doing this for myself, but for the emperor, for the Li family, and for the people of the world!" King Han sighed: "General Murong, please allow me to prepare for a few days!"

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Tai Chi Palace.

The emperor was not in a good mood, and Concubine Yang could tell. The emperor was having breakfast: mutton soup cakes, red date porridge, meat cakes, and walnut cakes. When the palace maid placed plates of food on the tables in front of him, he pushed them away. The imperial concubine beside him did not speak but smiled. , seemed to find this interesting.

"There is no place for me here!" King Pei thought uneasily. He didn't know why his brother asked him to have breakfast with him this morning, but the emperor's order could not be disobeyed. He lowered his head and pretended to be interested in the meatloaf in front of him. Show interest and concentrate on research.

"Take them all!" The emperor finally said: "I have no appetite!"

"Your Majesty, please at least eat some of these sheep soup cakes!" The noble concubine next to him said with a smile: "It is not easy to eat a decent bowl of sheep soup cakes in Chang'an now. I heard from my family yesterday that Wang Shangshu invited guests to dinner, and there were twelve guests. , I only killed two chickens, one goose, more than ten eggs, tofu and the like. I wanted to eat mutton but couldn't buy it. In the end, I only got one sheep head. After it was cooked, each guest could have some. Soup!”

"What? There is only one sheep head for twelve people?" The imperial concubine's answer aroused the emperor's interest. In the Tang Dynasty, pork was still a food eaten by the lower class people. The most important and most popular source of meat for the upper class banquets was mutton. It can be said that the people of Chang'an are happy if they don't have sheep. Master Shangshu treats twelve people to one sheep's head. This is indeed a big news in the upper class society.

"Yes!" The imperial concubine said with a smile: "Caohe has only been restored for a few days, and the people are not full of corn. How can there be mutton to eat!" At this point, she pointed to the mutton soup cakes on the table: "Your Majesty, For Wang Shangshu’s sake, you’d better eat some of this bowl of mutton soup cake!”

"Well, for the sake of Wang Shangshu, let me just eat some!" The emperor smiled, picked up the spoon and took two bites, then said to Li Xian who was standing aside: "King Pei, you should also try this sheep soup cake. , tastes really good!”

"Yes!" King Pei responded and started eating. He was eating soup cakes in his mouth, but he was thinking about why the emperor called him to have breakfast together so early in the morning, but he didn't dare to ask.

The two were in the dining room when a servant came in to report that it was the King of Han who requested an audience. The emperor put down the spoon and asked in surprise: "King Han? He wants to see me?"

"Exactly!" the chamberlain replied: "It's the Crown Prince of Han who is out here, saying that his father hopes to see Tianyan!"

"Who is this?" Yang Guifei asked puzzledly.

"He is the eleventh son of Emperor Gaozu and the younger brother of Emperor Taizong Wen. I think we should call him uncle!" Li Hongdao: "It seems that he should be over sixty this year, and he is considered the most senior in the clan. He is an old man. He suddenly wants to see me. Maybe he has something to entrust me to! Anyway, I still want to see him! You take Prince Han and his son to the Manlu Palace, and I will go see them after breakfast! "

"According to the order!" the waiter responded and retreated.

"King Pei!" Li Hong said to Li Xian: "You can go with me to see your uncle later!"

"Little brother, I obey!" Li Xiandao.

Ganlu Temple.

Li Xian walked about three or four steps behind the emperor and walked into the Manna Hall. He didn't know whether all this was arranged in advance. Since the emperor returned to power, although he has not been punished, he knows in his heart that the relationship between the two will never return to its original state. All he can do is to be cautious and never let his brother recall the past. Whatever you have done before, this is your way of survival.

"Uncle, no courtesy!" The emperor's voice interrupted Li Xian's thoughts. He quickly put a warm smile on his face and followed the emperor, like a silent shadow.

"Kowtow to Your Majesty!" King Han insisted on paying homage according to the ceremony. He finished kowtowing with difficulty, sat on the brocade cushion next to him, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty has countless shortcomings, and you are really ashamed to come to see this bad old man like me. pole!"

"Why did my uncle say this?" Li Hong said with a smile: "You are the elder in the family, so why would you want to see the younger generation? Aren't you committing unfilial piety to me?" (End of this chapter)