Xuande

Chapter 718 That Gloomy Expression
To be honest, before this, Zheng Tai had never imagined that Dong Zhong would become like this at all.

Once upon a time, Dong Zhong was very dissatisfied with Liu Bei's taking over the power. He felt that he was also a member of the imperial relatives, and he should share power with Liu Bei.

So when they pushed Dong Zhong back then, they succeeded.

But today, Dong Zhong seems to have been tamed by Liu Bei. He has almost completely become a captive of pleasure.

Is this the hussar general Dong Zhong who was unwilling to surrender?
"General Dong, this is..."

Zheng Tai looked at Dong Zhong speechlessly, full of disbelief.

Dong Zhong raised his eyes and saw Zheng Tai standing in front of him, showing an idiot-like smile.

"Duke Zheng is here? Please take a seat, come and entertain the distinguished guests."

He shouted, and then continued to caress the bodies of the two concubines like no one else was there, enjoying their tender skin, and chewing on the fried chicken legs they handed to his mouth.

Zheng Tai wanted to speak several times, but was interrupted by Dong Zhong and the two concubines whispering, which made Zheng Tai very entangled in whether he spoke or not.

Fortunately, this entanglement only lasted for a few minutes, and soon, two servants came to Zheng Tai, and saw a plate of fragrant fried chicken legs and a pot of rose peach wine just out of the pan.

"Liu Bei is not a good person, but the things he made are really good. He made this fried chicken leg. It is said that it was a luxury that he rewarded his subordinates in Liangzhou very early. It will be brought out to entertain guests.

And this rose peach wine is also produced in Liangzhou. After Liu Bei arrived in Liangzhou, there are more and more good things in Liangzhou. Zheng Gong, this rose peach wine is not ordinary rose peach wine. The highest quality Jiuquan rose peach wine in Liangzhou, one pot is worth ten pots of ordinary rose peach wine! "

With a proud look on his face, Dong Zhong introduced the extravagant things in his mansion to Zheng Tai.

Looking at the fragrant fried chicken drumsticks and rose peach wine in front of him, Zheng Tai immediately looked depressed.

He looked up at Dong Zhong.

"General Dong, I'm here because I have something important to discuss with General Dong."

Dong Zhong smiled.

"No hurry, no hurry, eat and drink first, then discuss, no matter how important it is, you have to eat and drink enough before discussing it, right?"

Then Dong Zhong stopped looking at Zheng Tai, but continued to engage in affairs with the two beautiful concubines on their own. The two beautiful concubines were also quite open, understanding Dong Zhong's intentions, and seemed to see something about Dong Zhong. Some bad thoughts, so the voice is not so restrained.

In front of Zheng Tai, the three of them huddled together, which made Zheng Tai, who claimed to be a gentleman, very uncomfortable, but he couldn't say anything.

He came here to beg for help, to beg for cooperation, if he was throwing face here and not showing face, how could this matter go on?
He could only lower his head not to look at Dong Zhong's greasy behavior, and put his mind on the food. He just didn't eat before he came, and now he was hungry, so it would be good to eat something.

So he picked up a fried chicken leg with his chopsticks, and when he bit into it, it was crispy and fragrant. The strong aroma of oil and meat were intertwined, creating a strong sense of satisfaction.

Well, Liu Bei is indeed not a good guy, he can even be regarded as a super bad guy, a bad guy with deep thoughts, but the things he made are really good.

This fried chicken leg is fragrant and crispy. It is said that the flour is finely ground with high-quality wheat, and then the marinated chicken is wrapped with this flour, and finally it is fried in a frying pan.

Not only do you need a large pot of oil, you need to use more expensive spices to process the chicken, but you also need to fry it in an iron pan that Liu Bei tossed out.

It is said that it is more fragrant when fried like this, and it is not easy to cause accidents.

Because it needs a lot of materials and some skills, it is still the top grade in the court menu that Liu Bei dedicated to the Empress Dowager Dong, so this thing is very valuable, and it has become a food for the rich and powerful.

At present, there is no such menu on the market. Even a very famous restaurant does not have this menu. All of them are related supporting facilities that are only available in the homes of the rich and powerful. Only the top rich and powerful can make and enjoy them at home.

Now people in the capital who have a little bit of noodles are proud to serve their guests with fried chicken legs. If anyone can have fried chicken legs on the banquet menu, they will have more face.

As the nephew of the Empress Dowager Dong, Dong Zhong naturally has no shortage of channels to get these things and production methods, nor does he lack the cost of making these things. Looking at his shiny face, he must eat it every day, every month , to eat into such a rich appearance.

But Zheng Tai is not incomprehensible.

This thing is really delicious.

Because the fried chicken legs were so fragrant, Zheng Tai stopped after eating three in a row, feeling a little greasy, so he poured a glass of rose peach wine and drank it all in one gulp.

Well, it is mellow and delicious, full of flavor, much better than the roseberry wine he usually drinks.

If he guessed correctly, this should be the top grade of Liangzhou rose peach wine - Jiuquan rose peach wine.

It is said that after Liu Bei took control of Liangzhou, while restoring agricultural production, he also resumed the production of rose peach wine, and classified different rose peach wines into grades according to the different production areas, the quality of rose peaches and the different brewing techniques.

Among the ten counties in Liangzhou, four counties produce rose peach wine, among which the rose peach wine produced in Jiuquan County is the best.

Jiuquan rose peach wine is considered to be the best among rose apple wines because of its best quality, best brewing process, and longest production cycle. It is generally only supplied to the royal family, important clansmen and important heroes, and belongs to the royal family. Special offer.

After the royal special offer is over, it will be sold, and most of the sold products will be wrapped up by Liu Bei himself, and used as gifts to relatives, friends and cronies around him. It is not a commodity, but a kind of human relationship. comminicate.

Only those left after Liu Bei took them will be sold, and only those sold in the shops that sell Liangzhou fine salt in Luoyang City.

However, its price is so high that it is far from being enjoyed by ordinary wealthy households. It is difficult for some mid-level and high-level officials to enjoy it, and more importantly, even rich people cannot buy it.

So if someone can get a bottle of Jiuquan rose peach wine, it will be a very honorable thing.

With Zheng Tai's status, because the relationship with Liu Bei is relatively delicate, the number of times he got some drinks from Liu Bei is also one of the few.

Most of the time, Zheng Tai can only drink the second-class Zhangye rose peach wine and the even lower-class Dunhuang rose peach wine. Compared with the two, Jiuquan rose peach wine is indeed the top grade among the top grades.

This Dong Zhong is very lucky, drinking the best apple wine, eating the most expensive palace dishes, wearing the most gorgeous Shu brocade clothes, full of fat and strong, and enjoys the best. On this day, he, the patriarch of the Fanyue family I'm a little envious.

But then again, with so much wealth and enjoyment, can you still have the determination to compete with Liu Bei?
Zheng Tai raised his head and looked at the fat man who was walking back and forth on the concubine's body with his greasy hands, apart from envy and jealousy, there was also a trace of worry.

He was really worried that this guy had completely indulged in luxury and no longer had any ambitions to fight against Liu Bei.

In that case, what should I do?

Finally, Dong Zhong had enough to eat and drink, and his hands were satisfied, so he sent two concubines to wait in the room, and he finally looked at Zheng Tai.

"Can these crude things still enter Zheng Gong's eyes?"

"Various... General Dong's arrogance, even the master Zheng is envious!"

Zheng Tai smiled wryly and said: "General Dong, Mr. Zheng came to visit this time. He really wants to discuss something very important with General Dong. I also hope that General Dong can listen to what Mr. Zheng has to say."

Dong Zhong poured a glass of rose peach wine and drank it all in one gulp.

"Hehehe please tell me."

"It's about Liu Bei."

Zheng Tai looked at Dong Zhong's changed expression, and said slowly, "Did General Dong hear what Liu Bei did in the court in recent months? Not only the government affairs meeting and the elimination of officials, but also his recent The so-called military region system to be promoted and the localization of troops.”

Dong Zhong put down his wine glass and nodded.

"I heard it a little bit, but I don't know it very clearly. Dong doesn't care much about these things. Let it happen. To us, it doesn't have any other meaning."

Zheng Tai sighed, and told Dong Zhong about Liu Bei showing his true colors in front of him and Jia Xi, and also told Dong Zhong about his and Jia Xi's guesses about Liu Bei's plans all the time.

"We all thought that Liu Bei was a humble person, but we never expected that he was actually a deeply hidden hypocrite, full of tyranny and desire for power in his heart, as long as we let him complete the layout, we would have no chance of turning over.

At that time, Liu Xuande can do whatever he wants, but we may end in a miserable end, but we don’t know if we will follow in the footsteps of the Yuan family, the He family, and the modern literature school. What does General Dong think? "

Zheng Tai looked at Dong Zhong expectantly, hoping to see a trace of unwillingness from his oily face.

But he was disappointed, he saw nothing.

Of course, it is also possible that the expression on Dong Zhong's face is not so easy to see because he is too fat.

Zheng Tai only looked at Dong Zhong and shook his head.

"I don't think so."

"General Dong, you..."

Zheng Tai was puzzled and said: "Don't you think that Liu Bei's power is a huge threat to us? I remember that the relationship between you and Liu Bei was not friendly at the beginning. If he completely controls the power, don't you worry about it?" Did he do something to you?"

"What's the use of worrying?"

Dong Zhong shook his head and said: "Before, I was very worried, very worried, so I joined forces with you, but it was useless, Liu Bei was impeccable, and most importantly, the Empress Dowager had a very good opinion of him, and the Empress Dowager did not think so at all. Allow me to do anything to him.

Without the support of the Empress Dowager, I was the only one. There was no way to take him. This was a few years ago, as you said. Now, he has 25 troops, and Luo Yang is no longer enough for him to garrison, so he disperses the army Wherever he went, he was stronger than he was then. "

"Although the strong are strong, they also have weaknesses. There is no one without weaknesses."

Zheng Tai said unwillingly: "Otherwise, we will sit and wait for death!"

"But the weak are weaker and have more weaknesses."

Dong Zhong shook his head and said: "Liu Bei may only have one weakness, which is well protected by him, but we have more than ten or even dozens of weaknesses, all in Liu Bei's eyes, as long as he stretches out his hand, we will It’s hard to resist, what else can I do?”

"There's always a way."

Zheng Tai anxiously said: "If we don't do anything, we'll just sit and wait, and we'll be defeated. Do something, and maybe there's still a glimmer of life. General, you have something that others don't, and this will be an important reliance for your victory!"

"Duke Zheng, are you referring to the officers and soldiers of the palace guards and city gate captains under my command?"

Dong Zhong shook his head, and said slowly: "You guys only know one thing, not the other. You only know that I am in command of these two teams, but do you know where the expenses of the palace guards and the city gate lieutenants come from?" of?"

Zheng Tai nodded.

"Of course we know that the palace guards and the officers and soldiers of the city gate lieutenants are allocated funds from the national treasury, which is under the jurisdiction of the Da Sinong. The funds approved by the Da Si Nong are used for the city gate captains and palace guards. Moreover, the Da Si Nong is not Is it your confidant?"

"But Da Sinong's subordinates are all from the Shaofu, and they are all from Liu Bei. My Da Sinong was dismissed a few years ago, and now he just puts on a show and works on time every day."

Dong Zhong said helplessly: "Suddenly ascended to a high position, without talents, and couldn't support the chief minister, so he seconded some people from the Shaofu to support the place, but he didn't expect that the chief minister became someone else's chief minister. It's not my business any more.

In the end, the captain of the city gate and the palace guards basically paid their expenses from Liu Bei. The money was all given by Liu Bei, and Liu Bei also gave rewards during the festivals. Are you loyal to me or to Liu Bei now..."

Zheng Tai was dumbfounded.

Only then did he realize that he thought he had thought too much about Liu Bei's power, but he might still be conservative.

Liu Bei's power may be even greater than he imagined.

Some powers that did not belong to him may also be under his control, and these powers are exactly what Zheng Tai needs.

"Is...is this reasonable? Why didn't you explain this to the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty? It is said that Liu Bei deliberately usurped power, and he has evil intentions! Your subordinates and power have been usurped by Liu Bei. It's very dangerous!"

"Said it, it's useless."

Dong Zhong waved his hand: "I don't know why the Empress Dowager trusts Liu Bei so much, anyway, the Empress Dowager has never cared about this matter, oh yes, I heard that Liu Bei will send many rare objects to the Empress Dowager to the palace every quarter , The Empress Dowager cannot do without Liu Bei now."

"This……"

Zheng Tai opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he couldn't get it out no matter what.

What's the matter!

Is money really that omnipotent?
Is Liu Bei's banknote ability really so invincible?

Even the Empress Dowager can buy it?
Can even buy power?
Zheng Tai felt incomprehensible.

Moreover, he didn't know how delicate and ingenious Liu Bei's operation was to get so rich.

But the fact is that Liu Bei has power and money in one hand, and now he is invincible.

Dong Zhong seemed to be lying down.

"So, it's all come to this point, Mr. Zheng, do you think it's meaningful for us to do this?"

Dong Zhong sighed, and said with a smile: "It's better not to think so much. Give up what you should give up. You should eat and drink. You have a lot of money like a woman. Isn't this day very happy? Zheng Gong, you What do you think?"

Seeing Dong Zhong's face lying flat and wretched, Zheng Tai was furious.

"General Dong doesn't think about the family, I have to think about the family! Think about future generations! We are also responsible for everything today. How can all the good things be taken by Liu Bei alone? Who does he think he is? Xiaowu The emperor!?"

Dong Zhong didn't respond to this.

"Since that's the case, I won't say anything. If Mr. Zheng has an idea, please find someone else. I just want to live a good life. I don't think about anything else."

After finishing speaking, Dong Zhong stood up with great effort, took a few breaths, and walked towards the inner hall without looking back, leaving Zheng Tai alone in a mess in the hall.

But Zheng Tai did not see the gloomy expression on Dong Zhong's face after he turned his back.

(End of this chapter)