Chapter 257: Polite Taoist, Angry Mother-in-law
What is it like to be the county lord’s father?
Li Huan finally understood it.
Officials who were on good terms with him would come to visit whenever they had nothing to do, and the envy in their words made Li Huan secretly happy.
"Li Sicheng, His Majesty summons you."
A minor official came in to report, and his eyes expressed his shock.
The Taoist has been in seclusion in the Western Garden for many years. He usually sees only a few close ministers. He rarely sees ministers, and most of them are important ministers.
To put it bluntly, the Taichang Temple was a lucrative but insignificant government office. Not to mention Li Huan, even Chen Mo, the Minister of the Taichang Temple, had not met Emperor Jiajing alone in the past few years.
"Is this person going to be very successful?"
Chen Mo was thoughtful.
"If Temple Secretary Li leaves, we will have some peace and quiet." Another Temple Secretary Yang Ju said with a smile.
That crazy guy who is obsessed with sex!
Chen Mo asked, "How many people in the Taichang Temple are hostile to Li Huan now?"
Yang Ju said: "It's hard to say, but there are some who don't dislike it, and some even support Li Huan."
Chen Mo nodded, "That's good."
Yang Ju asked, "Is the Minister of the Temple worried that this will cause divisions within the Taichang Temple?"
Chen Mo said: "What I am worried about is this trend."
Yang Ju was startled, "..."
Chen Mo took a sip of tea and tapped the table lightly with his fingers. "To be fair, what do you think of Long Wilbur?"
Yang Ju said: "He is a young talent and a seed of a famous general."
"Has he ever brought disaster to the country and the people?"
"Never."
"Then why do the scholars and officials regard him as an enemy?"
Yang Ju was silent.
Chen Mo said, "These people are used to following Chang and going against Chang. They will sneer at anyone who refuses to follow them. Do you know why those people want to kill Chang Wei Bo?"
Yang Ju said: "Chang Wei Bo is a disciple of Confucianism, but he follows Your Majesty..."
Emperor Jiajing was the sworn enemy of the literati, and Jiang Qingzhi was his cousin, so in the eyes of the literati they were naturally in the same group.
"Not really!" Chen Mo shook his head, raised the corner of his mouth, and said sarcastically: "They shouted and killed Chang Wei Bo, and were particularly fierce. It's not because of this, but..."
Chen Mo raised his eyes, "The two great victories that the Nine Frontiers had not seen in many years were both won by Chang Wei Bo. A few poems made the scholars speechless...
They’re jealous!”
Everyone has jealousy, and the right amount of jealousy can inspire people's fighting spirit. But if it goes too far, it will become a demon in people's hearts.
"Mr. Temple, someone wants to see you."
Yang Ju stood up to say goodbye, and when he went out, he saw that the visitor was someone he knew.
I remember that this person is a senior among the scholars in the capital!
The two nodded to each other.
Yang Ju stopped and listened to the greetings inside.
The man had gray hair and beard, and smiled. "Chen Siqing has been in charge of Taichang Temple for several years. I heard that some people are quite dissatisfied. Don't I say that those people should be treated harshly? Oh, I forgot one thing. Someone asked me to tell Chen Siqing..."
"Oh! What?" Chen Mo asked.
The visitor said, "I heard that Chen Siqing is interested in seeking a promotion. This is not difficult. However, I have to worry about one thing..."
Chen Mo was just drinking tea. Seeing that he didn't respond, the visitor smiled and said, "At a time like this, I'm worried that someone below might cause trouble. Chen Siqing, be alert. To deal with such people, you have to strike first... Look, why am I saying this, hahahaha!"
The visitor looked at Chen Mo, obviously waiting for a reply.
Chen Mo was silent for a moment, "Li Huan has been in the Taichang Temple for many years, he is diligent and conscientious, and he is quite respectful to me."
"Chen Siqing!" The visitor frowned slightly, obviously Chen Mo's reaction was beyond his expectations.
"I don't have any great ambitions. It's right to seek promotion, but!" Chen Mo pointed to his heart and said word by word, "I don't want to go against my conscience for the petty schemes of those people!"
The visitor stood up suddenly and said, "Mr. Chen Si, don't make the mistake!"
"Tell them." Chen Mo said coldly: "Confucianism, when used for the public good, will always be beneficial. Those people speak of being a gentleman but keep silent about the world, but in fact they are all for their own benefit. This is a problem!"
……
"I have met His Majesty."
When Li Huan saw the Taoist priest, he had changed into a brocade robe, even though he always wore a Taoist robe.
"Serve tea!"
Li Huan was somewhat flattered by the Taoist's politeness.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Huan quickly glanced at Emperor Jiajing and found that the smile was a little stiff, as if it was forced.
"I asked you to come here because I have something to discuss."
"You have the final say." Li Huan said subconsciously.
"Ahem!" The Taoist coughed dryly, "This marriage... There is something going on in the north, and Qingzhi needs to go there. Can the marriage be brought forward? If not..."
"Easy to say, easy to say..."
"Then...thank you very much."
"You're welcome. You're welcome."
When Li Huan walked out of Xiyuan, he relaxed and found that he was covered in sweat.
He hurried home and told his wife what happened.
"Bring it forward again?" Chang was angry. "Because of this marriage, the eldest lady's marriage was forced to be brought forward. Now it has to be brought forward again. What kind of logic is this?"
"It's the royal principle." Li Huan smiled bitterly, "Your Majesty is just like a relative, and he discusses things with me in a nice way. This is to give us face. If he doesn't give it to us, would we dare to refuse?"
Chang sat down and said angrily, "That's what you said, but with all these changes, have you ever given us any respect?"
"My son-in-law is going to the north on official business. Not to mention a wedding, even if it's a funeral, he has to go. Besides, if... Bah! Bah!" Li Huan twitched his lips lightly, "Evil things don't work, but good things do."
"My son-in-law is going to the north to fight?" Chang's heart tightened, "Why let him go? There are so many famous generals in the court."
"Those so-called famous generals are useless." Li Huan sighed.
"Didn't they say that the Nine Edges were unbreakable?"
"Bullshit!" Li Huan sneered, "Do you know how many years it has been since the Nine Frontiers had a great victory?"
Chang shook her head, and Li Huan said, "The recent great victory was caused by my son-in-law."
Chang sighed, "This son-in-law is too capable, but it's also worrying!" Li Huan said, "Hurry up and get ready!"
……
While the Li family was in an uproar over the early marriage, the Bo family was also in a state of panic.
"Hurry up and finish the work." Fucheng urged the foreman to finish the work quickly.
Hu Zongxian was also forced to become the manager, in charge of all affairs.
Xu Wei didn't like such meticulous mundane affairs. Seeing that everyone in the family was busy, he drank and wrote poetry in the corridor. Sun Chonglou passed by and glared at him, "Everyone is busy! Only you are free and easy. Do you believe that I will smash your wine gourd?!"
"Old Xu, help quickly." Without waiting for Xu Wei's response, Hu Zongxian came over in a panic and pulled him away.
"The purchased items will be arriving soon. You must personally supervise and inspect them. There must be no mistakes."
Xu Wei was angry. "I am a man of great talent. How can I do such a clerk's work?"
"Ok?"
Sun Chonglou's threatening snort came from behind.
Xu Wei coughed dryly, "I've been feeling bored lately, so I'm looking for something to do to relax my body and invigorate my blood circulation. Come on! Bring me the list. Just this... is this considered a job?"
Hu Zongxian said with a smile: "You, you should let people like Shitou deal with you."
Jiang Qingzhi has already arrived at the Huben Zuowei.
"I've met my uncle."
Yan Xu and others are still unaware of this.
"Let the brothers rest for a few days." Jiang Qingzhi gave the order after reviewing the Huben Zuowei.
"Uncle, is there something wrong?" Yan Xu asked.
Jiang Qingzhi nodded, "The court and Altan have reached an agreement that both sides will temporarily cease hostilities. However, Altan has suffered losses from me twice and wants to save face. So he made an excuse of hunting to show off his grassland cavalry."
Chen Bao said: "Master, hunting in spring is against the harmony of nature!"
Spring is the time when everything comes back to life. Killing animals at this time is against the will of heaven.
This is the view of the people in the Central Plains.
Jiang Qingzhi said: "An Da is a tyrant. There is no mercy in such a person's eyes for not killing."
He turned around and looked at the generals, "This time I will lead 1,500 men north."
"My lord, if Altan is in charge of this matter, fifteen hundred people may not be enough and not powerful enough," said Yan Xu.
"I know." Jiang Qingzhi patted his shoulder, "So I told His Majesty to dispatch a thousand men from the vanguard of the palace army to follow him."
"The vanguard of the government army? Aren't they our mortal enemies?" Chen Bao said, "My Lord, I'm afraid those bastards will trip us up."
Jiang Qingzhi shook his head. "Although this trip is not a fight, it is more dangerous than a fight. How will the soldiers of the government army's vanguard decide..."
He stood with his hands behind his back, looking in the direction of the vanguard of the palace army.
"There are many stupid people in the world, but I think Qin Yuan is a smart man. Smart people... don't let me down!"
……
Ever since they were defeated by the Huben Zuowei in the martial arts performance, the morale of the government army's vanguard has been low.
Commander Qin Yuan was also a little depressed. He left things to his deputy and hid in the duty room all day, doing no one knew what he was doing.
"That bitch!"
Qin Yuan is drinking.
People who drink to drown their sorrows usually don't need any snacks to go with the wine. They like the feeling of the wine stimulating their throat and esophagus.
Qin Yuan had a messy beard and his face was a little swollen.
Ever since he was defeated in the martial arts performance, his wife at home, the girl from the royal family, looked down on him even more and spent the whole day either mocking or ridiculing him.
Qin Yuan also wanted to show his authority as a husband, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his wife mocked him, "If it weren't for my father, would you be able to lead an army today?"
Ha ha!
"I don't want to take shortcuts, and I don't want to rely on women to get to the top, but damn... this damn Ming Dynasty! Without a backer, you'll have to hold it in for the rest of your life."
Qin Yuan raised his head and drank a glass of wine, his eyes turned red.
"Commander!"
There was a knock on the door.
"roll!"
"Commander, there is a military order."
Qin Yuan suddenly jumped up, quickly put away the remaining half pot of wine and the wine glass, raised his hand and fanned it a few times before opening the door.
Outside the door was an official from the Ministry of War.
"Order the government army's vanguard to select a thousand elite soldiers to follow Chang Wei Bo northward!"
Qin Yuan was stunned.
After the officials left, the generals gathered.
Everyone was talking about something, saying that Jiang Qingzhi wanted to take revenge on us.
"Be careful, Commander!"
Qin Yuan closed his eyes and said, "Select the most elite 1,000 men."
"Commander."
"Go quickly!"
"Leader!"
Qin Yuan returned home. His wife was reading a book. When she saw him come in, she didn't even offer to help him change his clothes. Instead, she said coldly, "You are so decadent!"
Qin Yuan calmly changed his clothes and said calmly: "I will go north in a few days."
"Ok?"
"The leader is Long Wilbur!"
"It's him?"
Seeing his wife's expression change, Qin Yuan suddenly laughed, "So, there is someone you are afraid of? Hahahaha!"
At this moment, Qin Yuan felt that most of the depression caused by his wife's sarcasm and ridicule had dissipated.
I actually felt a little more grateful to Jiang Qingzhi.
Wish all book lovers: family reunion and happy Mid-Autumn Festival.
(End of this chapter)
