Wei Ni

Xia Houhui, who had already arrived at the Beimang Mountain Manor, was late in arriving for the banquet. It was not because he did it intentionally, but because he met two people when he came in and was delayed.

One is his seventh brother Xia Houhe.

As the youngest among the emperor's ministers, he consciously waited at the door to point out the taboos and rules for many meritorious generals who came to the manor for the first time, so as to prevent them from being disrespectful in front of the emperor or competing for seats, and would have a good celebration. The atmosphere of the banquet was disturbed.

Therefore, when he saw Xia Houhui walking in, he also took advantage of the opportunity to talk about some personal matters.

It is claimed that the eldest brother Xia Houheng knew that Emperor Cao Rui had rewarded the sixth brother with a lot of money, so he felt that Xia Houhui's previous complaints about the difficulties of Yangquwu Fort were untrue, and decided to give him only 20% of the profits from horse trading.

And Xiahou Hui was specially asked to say that this was a notification rather than a discussion, so that Xiahou Hui would not make any noise again.

On the other hand, he bumped into Zhongshu Ling Sun Zi.

Sun Zi, who was accompanying the imperial chariot, had already had a banquet with him.

However, because a minor official from Zhongshu Province reported some government affairs, he avoided the table to deal with it.

Well, it is the confession statement of Sima Yi, the governor of Yongliang.

Unlike Qin Lang who offered prisoners to show his merits, Sima Yi, who put down the rebellion in the northern part of Anding County, not only did not record his merits and ask for rewards, but instead asked the emperor and the temple for his own negligence and negligence, which led to the rebellion under his rule.

It has to be said that Sima Yi, who has been immersed in the official career for a long time, is really shrewd and savvy.

When a local rebellion breaks out, it means that the emperor has lost his moral character and the state and county officials have lost the support of the people. However, Sima Yi took all the blame on himself, which is equivalent to taking responsibility for the emperor and the state and county officials.

And this move will not delay the temple's recording of meritorious service and rewards for the soldiers who put down the rebellion.

The court officials have their own rules for rewards and punishments. Those who have merit will be recorded, and those who are guilty will be prosecuted.

As a minister of Tuogu, Sima Yi is now considered a very human minister in terms of status and authority. Even if he pleads guilty, he will not be held accountable in the temple.

On the contrary, Emperor Cao Rui would praise him for his humility.

Sun Zi and Liu Fang, who still firmly controlled the central power of Wei State, also praised Sima Yi.

The reason is that in his apology statement, he also made suggestions for how to deal with Hu Bo, the Hun security chief, who surrendered again and asked for help. On the grounds that they were waging war and causing rebellion and not caring about kindness, they asked the temple to recruit them back to Luoyang to serve as redundant officials and place them as redundant officials. The nearly 20,000 Luo people were temporarily punished as military slaves and worked as livestock herders until they could produce enough to compensate for the damage caused by the rebellion. After being depleted by the rebels and then incorporated into the scholar family, in a sense, they were "adding households" to the country.

Liu Fang and Sun Zi both high-fived and praised this proposal.

After all, Qin Lang’s sacrifice of prisoners was in front of him - just before the winter began, the planning and promotion of officials in various states and counties, the recording and accountability of the Bingzhou war, military expenditures for the coming year, and other matters were all covered in detail. Zhongshu Province is so busy that it doesn’t even touch the ground! But because of Qin Lang's meritorious service, Liu Fang and Sun Zi had to free up their hands to consider how to place these prisoners!

In particular, Tian Yu, who had been promoted to General Pingbei, also came to Luoyang to discuss how to incorporate the Hetao Plain into the territory.

One of them mentioned the shortage of manpower and asked the temple to allocate more labor.

If Qin Lang had left those captives in Bingzhou to serve as coolies like Sima Yi, how could there be so many affairs in the temple?
In comparison, it is natural for Liu Fang and Sun Zi to praise Sima Yi generously.

Furthermore, on the way to the manor just now, the emperor Cao Rui asked Qin Lang, Cao Shuang, Zhang Hu and others to accompany him out of the heart of honoring his merits.

Zhang Hu, who was in a low position, was fine. He was safe and sound along the way and did not violate the rules at all.

But Qin Lang, who has always been cautious, and Cao Shuang, who has a humble beauty, are smiling happily. Together with Xiahou Xian Cao Zhao, they surround the imperial chariot, so that the servants, the casual knights, and Liu Fang and Sun Zi cannot get close to the emperor!

Although Qin Lang and others did not show any pretense of being proud and having no ambitions, but they forgot even the most basic etiquette of humility and respect for veterans and important ministers, which still made Liu Fang and Sun Zi dissatisfied.

After all, the two of them have been in charge of Zhongshu Province for many years, and are known as "full-time". They can even influence the appointment and dismissal of the three princes!

Can't you make Qin Lang and others humble?
Zhu Fu, he just relied on Tian Yu's ability to accumulate merit, and his arrogance has actually been revealed!
With such dissatisfaction of being "not respected", when Sun Zi avoided the meeting to handle government affairs, he had already thought of how to praise Sima Yi's brilliant handling of the war, in order to "remind" the emperor Cao Rui that he discovered Qin Lang's mediocrity.

At this moment, Xia Houhui, who was leaving his seventh brother, walked into the corridor and met Sun Zi who had turned from the other side.

"Mr. Sun."

With a greeting, Xia Houhui nodded lightly and bowed his hands in salute. Without any hesitation, he stepped aside to make way, humbly letting Sun Zi go first.

This move made Sun Zi slightly stunned.

Originally, he thought that Xia Houhui would just nod and say hello and take the lead!
After all, it was obvious to all the princes in the temple that the man in front of them was a "reckless man" who first refuted the late General Cao Zhen's attack on Shu, and then roared in the temple and angrily criticized the servant Wu Zhi!

Who would have expected that he would step out of the way?
"Zhi Quan, go ahead."

Sun Zi, who quickly came to his senses, had a smile on his face and said slowly, "Your Majesty's banquet today is to show the merits of the generals in the Northern Expedition to Xianbei! How can I deprive you of the honor of being a child?"

"Don't dare, Mr. Sun, don't make fun of me."

Xia Houhui also grinned and said humbly, "I was lucky enough to join the expedition to Bingzhou, and the battle was no better than the attack on Ma City. In addition, the Xianbei cavalry in Mobei had uneven armor and poor fighting weapons, so the tiger and leopard cavalry and the Xiaoqi camp were defeated. Elite, who can't defeat it as a general? So I'm just tired, how dare I claim credit for it?"
Aren't you, a temple-crushing man, always greedy for merit?
Why is it different today!
Besides, how can I not know whether you have meritorious service or not? How can I know that I have seen everything in detail?

Hearing this, Sun Zi's smile did not change, but his heart became more and more strange. Just as he was about to say something, he saw Xia Houhui stretched out his hand and continued, "Furthermore, in the past, Emperor Gao of the Han Dynasty ruled the world and discussed it. When it comes to rewards for meritorious deeds, Xiao He is the most important. It can be seen from this that if Sun Gong and other pillars of the community were not at the center to coordinate the war, how could the Xianbei thieves chiefs be given the title of head? As a meritorious official. Well, your Majesty has given me a banquet. It's too late for me to come down here, so I don't dare to delay. "

This son’s words have won my heart!

Immediately, Sun Zi was overjoyed, and suddenly felt that the templeless man in front of him was not a vulgar person.

It seems that he is more lovable than the cautious Qin Lang or the humble Cao Shuang.

"It's disrespectful."

It was rare that Sun Zi was in such a happy mood that he even thanked him for the first time before striding forward, "I don't dare to delay my childish power, but I'll allow you to be presumptuous."

In this way, the two of them arrived at the emperor's banquet place.

Perhaps he just avoided the table for a while. When Sun Zi returned to the table, he did not salute the emperor. Instead, he walked over and sat down with a smile as if he had gone to change clothes.

Xia Houhui would never be so presumptuous.

First he was silent and respectful, and after Emperor Cao Rui nodded gently, he found a seat and sat down.

However, he did not raise his wine cup to invite Cao Rui like others, and flattered him with two words of praise such as "The Lord is virtuous, the king's master worked hard, and the first battle led to the death of the traitor."

But as soon as he sat down, he poured himself a drink as if there was no one else around, buried his head in the case and ate happily.

He is really hungry.

I had eaten breakfast hastily at the fourth watch, and now it was almost noon, so my stomach was already empty.

Besides, today's protagonist is Qin Lang.

If he raised a cup to the emperor, he would naturally have to have a drink with Qin Lang, otherwise the emperor would feel that he was worried about the unfairness of his merit recording.

Why make yourself uncomfortable?
The food and wine here are so delicious, just think of yourself as a diner.

Eat early and take a nap in a quiet corner to refresh yourself before leaving for Huainan later~
His behavior naturally fell into the eyes of others.

The emperor Cao Rui, who was in a high position, saw it most clearly, and he just thought about it briefly and then ignored it.

Judging from Sun Zi's demeanor just now, he felt that Xia Houhui came late because he and Sun Zi happened to bump into each other and chatted for a few words; and he did not want to invite Xia Houhui for a drink or chat with him.

After all, he obviously knew that Xia Houhui's achievements were hidden, and he acquiesced to it. If he invited Xia Houhui to drink again and attracted the attention of other officials, wouldn't it be murderous and heart-breaking?

As for the other people present, they also had no intention of chatting or drinking with Xia Houhui.

Even his uncle Wang Su just smiled and nodded gently to show his courtesy when Xia Houhui came to the table.

Not all of them knew the emperor's thoughts.

But we know that when Xia Houhui came to this manor for the first time as a minister of Sanqi, he also feasted like no one else. Then, when the emperor asked a question, he had "Efang Palace Fu".
They don't want to cause another "Luoyang Fu" or "Weiyang Palace Fu" because of their troubles.

More importantly, if Xia Houhui is really troublesome and leads to a poem, it is still uncertain whether Xiahou Hui will receive the emperor's wrath, but he will definitely be remembered by the emperor!

The harm is so great. Everyone here is good and handsome. Of course, one more thing is worse than one less thing.

Just like this, after Xia Houhui finished his meal without being disturbed, he looked up and saw the monarchs and ministers talking and laughing, singing and dancing to praise peace, and he suddenly felt sleepy after being full.

Simply, when I went to get water to rinse my mouth and clean my hands, I found a pavilion and rested against a pillar for a nap.

I don’t know how long it took.

Xia Houhui, who was sleeping soundly, was woken up by the manor steward.

"Your Majesty is very drunk and has returned to the palace. If the general is tired, he can go back to his house to rest."

Is it over so soon?
Judging from the emperor's drinking capacity, he shouldn't have gotten drunk so quickly!

Could it be that he drank too quickly?
When Xia Houhui woke up, he nodded to the manor manager to thank him. When he stood up, he didn't forget to look up at the sky. When he realized that the sun had just turned westward, he couldn't help but have some doubts in his heart.

But he didn't think much about it and went straight to the stable to get his mount. He didn't even return to Luoyang City and rushed eastward to Huainan.

Leliang, who was ordered to wait for his return at the north gate of Luoyang, waited for half an hour in vain. (End of chapter)