Jinyi Night Walk

After returning from the Dog Temple, Zhu Yunwen first went to the Zhengxin Hall to rest for a while, change clothes, and then hold a state banquet.The same is true for civil and military officials. They can't wear the grand crown clothes for the Taimiao worship ceremony to attend the palace banquet. However, most of them did not return to the palace, because the two edicts were issued at the same time, and the officials had already prepared Clothes, come back from the Taimiao, change in your own car before entering the palace, and then leave.

It was during this time that He Tianyang returned to his car and told Xia Xun the news of the great victory in Huichang that he had heard in the palace.Xia Xun didn't know the news of the defeat of the combined army at this time. There were no telephones and telegrams in this era. It was unrealistic to keep in touch with the front line through the imperial court's control area and keep abreast of the changes in the battle situation.

Xia Xun was also taken aback when he heard the news. He asked carefully for a long time, understood all the news He Tianyang had heard in the court hall, and frowned.He Tianyang said worriedly: "My lord, if this is the case, should we postpone the matter of instigating against Li Jinglong? We have to wait for us to win a big battle, otherwise, I am afraid that Li Jinglong will not submit."

Xia Xun thought for a long time, and asked: "Today, officials above the fifth rank in Beijing worshiped the Taimiao together and entered the palace to participate in the celebration banquet. Is there Li Jinglong among them?"

He Tianyang said: "Naturally, how many Dukes are left in Daming? Of course he is among them."

Xia Xun nodded and said, "Calm down, everything... is still according to the original plan!"

He Tianyang said worriedly: "My lord...."

Xia Xun smiled slightly and said, "It's okay, just do as I tell you!"

The grand celebration banquet lasted until the evening. After the palace gate opened, the ministers came out one after another.Li Jinglong was the last one to walk, and the ministers talked a lot as they walked, and they were still talking about the battle ahead, so he had to slow down.Standing in the crowd, no one will strike up a conversation with him, and he still hears ridicule from time to time, why bother.

If you lose on the battlefield, Brother Paoze will try their best to pull you back. If you lose in the officialdom, you will be completely isolated and abandoned.

Although the battlefield is cruel, there is still warmth and passion. The officialdom is colder and crueler than the battlefield. There are only intrigues and naked conflicts of interests here.

When Li Jinglong walked out of the palace gate slowly, the palace gate closed quietly behind him. He looked up at the gloomy sky, and walked towards his car with a gloomy expression.In his palm, he was tightly clutching a ball of paper, which was quietly pressed under his cup and plate when he was in the palace, and there was only one sentence on it: "Your Excellency is in the car, my old friend is waiting for you!"

During the banquet, he only left his seat once when he was toasting to the emperor. When he came back, the note appeared. pass it on to him.

"master!"

As soon as Li Jinglong came back, the groom put down the pedals quickly, and the guards who were basking in the sun under the wall quickly got on their horses and came one after another.Today, Li Jinglong is still respectful to him, only his own servants, no matter how frustrated he is in the court, no matter how much ridicule he receives in the court, only these people can't change their attitude towards him, because these people rely on He ate.

Li Jinglong stepped into the car and paused slightly when his fingers touched the sedan door. Is there really anyone inside, or is it just a joke made by someone else?If there is someone, who is he, and is he also an official who participated in today's celebration banquet?

He squinted at the groom standing under the car. Because of his hesitation, the groom was looking at him blankly. Looking at his expression, the groom didn't look like an insider.Li Jinglong smiled, and a weird thought suddenly came to his mind: "Is there not a charming fox girl inside? A fox girl with great powers, a down-and-out scholar..."

The tense expression on Li Jinglong's face disappeared, and the dead man was upside down, and he had been immortal for thousands of years, and he had fallen into the field where everyone was screaming and beating him. What else is there to be afraid of?

As soon as he opened the car door, he got in...

The carriage rumbled and gradually slowed down.

Li Jinglong lifted the curtains, saw the familiar street scene, and knew that he was approaching his mansion, so he ordered: "Don't rush back to the mansion, just walk around.

The groom was stunned and asked, "Master, where are you going?"

"random!"

Li Jinglong put down the curtains, and looked at Xia Xun who was sitting beside him again.

He had imagined countless people, and even wondered if Huang Zicheng, who had fallen into trouble, was thinking of wooing him again, but he never thought that the person sitting in the car was Xia Xun, a person he had never thought of people.

Maybe he only needs to shout at this moment, and Xia Xun will bloody the spot, or even capture him alive and give him to the emperor.But Li Jinglong didn't do this, and Xia Xun dismissed his idea with just one sentence.

Xia Xun sat calmly, smiled and said only one sentence: "This little fish is not worth a father in the eyes of the emperor. If the Duke needs a friend right now, then I am the best friend for the Duke." friend!"

Because of this sentence, Li Jinglong sat down in his seat peacefully.

Li Jinglong put down the car officer, smiled faintly at Xia Xun and said, "Li Jinglong is just a waste, what does His Royal Highness King Yan want from me?"

Xia Xun smiled and said: "In the battle of Zhengcunba, the Duke was defeated by the arrogant soldiers and the time of the sky; in the battle of Baigouhe, if the Duke's handsome flag had not been blown by the wind, His Highness would have been defeated by the Duke." Got it. The imperial court only judges heroes by success or failure, but His Royal Highness King Yan does not. His Highness has fought against the duke in the battlefield, so he naturally knows the duke's abilities best.

His Highness admires the Duke's ability very much. His Highness once said to me: What the father of the Jiujiang tiger and his son lack is only battle experience." Your Highness is blessed by the heavens again, the severe cold first, and then the strong wind are all beneficial to our Yan army, our Yan army has already suffered a crushing defeat."

Li Jinglong, who was ridiculed for being incompetent, stupid, and useless, and scolded the street, heard Xia Xun "reporting the fair words of Yan Wang Zhu Di." His nose was sour, and tears almost didn't fall. He didn't want Xia Xun Seeing his embarrassment, he quickly turned his head, held back for a while, and then sneered, "God bless you? Then why did His Highness lose so badly this time, even Zhang Yu, the number one general under his command, was killed in battle."

Xia Xun asked back: "Does the Duke think that Sheng Yong is better than you?"

of course not!Wen Wu is the first, Wu Wu is the second, who is willing to admit that others are better than himself, especially a person whose family background, qualifications, and status are far inferior to his own, especially a conceited and proud person like Li Jinglong, but he can't say it .

Xia Xun didn't wait for him to admit it, and continued: "Your Highness failed this time because of the arrogant soldiers! From His Highness's point of view, the Duke is the son of General Li Fuzhong, the God of War of the Ming Dynasty. There are another 60 soldiers, since His Highness defeated Cao Guogong, how could he take Sheng Yong seriously, and it was because of this that he failed."

Xia Xun sighed.Angry and regretful, he said: "Sheng Yong's victory is not because he is good at fighting. It is really... Duke... you... made him perfect!"

Li Jinglong thought so.

Li Jinglong, who was already familiar with the details of the great victory ahead, heard that Zhu Difu was fighting, so he personally led his army to attack Sheng Yong's left wing. Defeated by underestimating the enemy.

Let Li Jinglong dispatch troops and generals to deal with the ever-changing battlefield situation, he is indeed a bit mediocre, but when it comes to mastering military theory, let him sit and talk, he is much better than most people.

Zhu Di's similar tactics were used against him in the battle of Baigouhe. If the handsome flag hadn't been broken that time, Zhu Di would have been folded in his hands.The only explanation is that Zhu Di didn't take Sheng Yong seriously at all. His defeat was indeed due to his arrogance and underestimation of the enemy.

And all of this, isn't he what Li Jinglong paved for Sheng Yong?As a result, Sheng Yong, who was lucky enough to win, was boasted that he was invincible and invincible, while Li Jinglong became an incompetent waste that was even more ridiculed by others.

Jealousy and disobedience were like a poisonous snake biting his heart fiercely. Li Jinglong gritted his teeth tightly, calmed down after a long while, and said coldly: "In any case, King Yan is indeed defeated. The soldiers were lost, even Zhang Yu died in the battle, the strength of the Yan army was greatly injured, and the morale of my court soldiers was greatly boosted. He asked you to come, what do you want to do? Do you want me, Li Jinglong, to take refuge in him, a defeated general?"

Xia Xun said: "Your Highness is indeed defeated this time. But victory and defeat are commonplace in military affairs. How dare you assert that Sheng Yong, who was lucky enough to win, will be invincible from now on? Does His Royal Highness King Yan have no chance to stand up?"

Of course Li Jinglong didn't believe it, and he didn't want to believe it.

He was defeated by Yan Wang Zhu Di, but in his heart, he didn't hate Zhu Di, what he hated was Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, and Qi Tai who made trouble for him, and what he hated was because of his failure. However, he was defeated by Zhu Di's arrogant soldiers under the same conditions, but put him in an even more embarrassing situation, Sheng Yong who was ridiculed by the world.

Xia Xun smiled, like a devil who bewitches others to sell their souls, and said in a seductive and provocative tone: "His Royal Highness Yan Wang still has a chance to stand up, and as for you, Duke, the emperor will not give you this." Opportunity, Fang Xiaoru and Huang Zicheng will not give you this opportunity, what they will give you is to overthrow the wall and be pushed by others, only to throw stones into the well. But His Royal Highness King Yan is willing to give you a chance to stand up, duke...do you want it?"

He couldn't help but be tempted by Xia Xun's conditions.Li Jinglong is like a person who is about to drown, even if someone throws him a straw, he wants to hold on tightly; like a traveler lost in the desert, even if he knows that what someone throws him is just a glass of poisonous wine , he also wanted to pour it down first, to moisten the fire-breathing throat.

Because what Li Jinglong bears is not only the humiliation of others, but also the heavy pressure from the family and the interest groups subordinate to him.He has his own power factions, his own connections, and powers that are vassals to him. His frustration is not just his own business, but his family and his entire power group. Rong.

If he continues to sink like this, the all-round blows that the Li family suffers from the court and the people will make the Li family decline day by day, and eventually become an ordinary wealthy family of the lower class, and even the status of an ordinary wealthy family will not be guaranteed.This kind of political status that is not up or down may be destroyed by the power of the court at any time, and the tree may fall and scatter at any time.

Li Jinglong is like a standard gambler who is red-eyed. He stared at Xia Xun fiercely and said, "Then, what does His Royal Highness want me to do? I, Li Jinglong, am in such a situation now... what else can I do?" Woolen cloth?"

As soon as the words came out, he himself was taken aback. Did that hoarse and mournful voice really come from his mouth?

Xia Xun said leisurely: "Duke really thinks that you are already a street mouse in the court, and everyone shouts and beats you? Do you really think that all the fathers and soldiers in the court have abandoned the duke like shoes?"

"Is not it?"

"of course not!"

Xia Xun persuaded him earnestly and persuasively: "Fang Xiaoru and Huang Zicheng, a professor of the Hanzhong government school, and a gentleman of the Imperial College, can't stabilize the country with literature, and can't fix the country with martial arts. Do you really think that two people like them will be able to win the holy favor?" Can you cover the sky with one hand? Will you be able to convince your father and military? It’s a big joke! Even Jing Qing, Lian Zining, Zhuo Jing and others who are fighting for the reduction of feudal lords, although they have the same political views, they have the same attitude towards their actions. ability, are you convinced that they have climbed to such a high position?

What's more, Ru Chang, Yu Xin, Gao Wei and other officials of the main peace faction who opposed the reduction of feudal vassals, and even a large number of anti-war generals in the army, once this force is united, it will be so huge. Because they lack a respectable leader, these... are all potential allies of yours..."

Li Jinglong's eyes gradually lit up. He turned out to be like a bat. The birds regarded him as a beast, and the beasts regarded him as a bird. As a result, he became the object of ridicule by both parties. But there is a real relationship between the two factions. Irreconcilable contradictory opposites.The Zhuhe faction, which opposes the reduction of feudal vassals, is lacking a strong leader in the court. If he is willing to stand up with a clear banner and does not need to take the initiative to recruit them, these people will naturally stand under his banner. Li Jinglong has the right to speak in the court, will he still be a clown who can be ridiculed by others?

With this opportunity, he can not only maintain and strengthen his power, but also... can also attack Fang Xiaoru and Huang Zicheng. He will never forget the time when these cold-blooded politicians cruelly treated him as an outcast and demanded his death hoarsely. That kind of humiliation, desolation and despair, as long as there is a chance, he must take revenge.

Li Jinglong felt that his throat was a little dry, and he swallowed with difficulty.Spitfire: "King Yan, do you want me...to let me take refuge in him?"

"of course not!"

Xia Xun said sternly: "The duke is the emperor's minister, and His Royal Highness King Yan is also the emperor's minister. His highness never thought of opposing the emperor, but there were traitors in the court. His highness followed the instructions of his ancestors, so he had no choice but to raise troops to calm the emperor's side. As a subject of the emperor, how could His Highness recruit the Duke for his own use? However, once the war broke out, the people would suffer after all, which only made the place corrupt and the universe uneasy.

His Highness hopes that the Duke of the State can stand up and lead the ministers, and finally achieve the goal of punishing traitors, negotiating peace between the two sides, and solving the problem with father's means. "

Xia Xun smiled, and added a commentary to his words: "Of course, in order to help the Duke achieve this goal, His Highness will try his best to cooperate on the battlefield. The more victories His Highness wins, the life of Fang Huang and his ilk will be smoother." The more sad you are, the more important the Duke's words in the court will be. Therefore, in order to get more support for the Duke's proposition, and to achieve the ultimate goal of peacefully resolving the dispute, I think... the Duke does not mind asking His Highness Let Sheng Yong suffer a little by revealing some news, and all the rewards are for the imperial court!"! ~!