Xiaoqi

After a certain distance from the gate of the mansion, the middle-aged man in brocade clothes who had just walked in front deliberately slowed down, and landed behind the man in the black cloak. Looking around, the outside of the corridor was windy and windy, and there were no outsiders within thirty steps in the corridor.So the middle-aged man whispered: "The last general was rude just now, please be tolerant, my lord."

The man in the cloak stopped when he heard the sound, shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter, the situation requires it. Ziyuan is resourceful and courageous, good at adapting to changes, and he is really a talent. After the matter subsides, if Ziyuan is willing to go to the Central Plains to take a job, you can directly follow me." Said, I will definitely not let you down then." This is an unabashed official wish.It is not difficult to see from this that their coming to the State Shepherd's Mansion this time has certain risks, which is why the man in the cloak promised the benefits bluntly.This is: If you want a horse to run, you have to feed it first.

"My lord's words are serious." The middle-aged man's expression was startled when he heard the words, and there was an unconcealable excitement in his brows, and he respectfully said: "The general will be at the command of the lord, but he has an order, and the general will live up to the great trust of the lord. "The volume of the last character was consciously raised by half a point to express his intentions. The so-called great trust means that the desire is very big and the appetite is not small.

It was obvious that the middle-aged man was not mediocre, he knew the intention of the man in the cloak to make a wish, so he jumped right in and took the opportunity to speak.In this way, not only can he get real benefits, but also the man in the cloak can feel at ease with him.On the contrary, if he pretends to be reserved and asks for nothing, it will make the cloaked man feel uneasy about him, and suspicion will inevitably arise in his heart.This kind of vigilance is really rare, no wonder the man in the cloak said he was quick-witted and resolute, he really said what he said, and he was a good judge of people.

After a pause, the middle-aged man pointed to the palace fifty paces ahead on the left, and said in a low voice, "Look, my lord, that is the main hall of the state capital. But judging from the number of guards in front of the gate, Liu Zhang must not be in the hall at this moment." Otherwise, there will be at least a hundred guards guarding the door. According to his recent habits, at this time he should gather his trusted and close ministers to discuss some matters secretly in the second hall at the back. So I don’t have to rush to see him, we can Go to the gazebo next to him and sit for a while, and it won't be too late to see him after everyone leaves. What do you think, my lord?"

The man in the cloak nodded thoughtfully, and pondered: "Just now when I was waiting to enter the mansion, I noticed four carriages parked in the stable on the west side of the mansion gate, presumably they were the cars of Liu Jiyu's cronies. That being the case, everything will be according to what Ziyuan said, and it will take some preparation time to go to and from Kongming, so there is no harm in going to the gazebo and waiting for a while. Zicheng doesn't need to follow, but he can check it out first, just in case of accidents." Meditation Among them, the man in the cloak made a decision.As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and patted the driver called "Zicheng" on the shoulder, signaling him to go to the second hall behind the main hall to investigate the situation.

Hearing the sound, the coachman nodded, without saying a word, he handed the yellow silk umbrella to the man in the cloak, and in a blink of an eye, he arrived behind the pillars in the corridor two feet away, and then jumped, the figure disappeared in the lightning flash In the thunderous rain and fog, there is no trace.

After seeing this scene, the middle-aged man was secretly dumbfounded and horrified.If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would definitely not believe that there are people in the world who have such a fast speed.Only then did he truly realize that the title of "parachutist" is by no means a vain name, but a well-deserved one. He really possesses a superb and miraculous ability, which makes him unmatched and ashamed of himself.

Watching the "driver" leave, the man in the cloak whispered: "There are too many people here, so it's not suitable to stay for a long time. Ziyuan leads the way, and I will go to the pavilion immediately, so as not to attract attention and cause trouble."

The middle-aged man came back to his senses when he heard the sound, and immediately nodded his head in understanding. He led the cloaked man forward for a dozen steps, then turned and headed east.There is the garden in the front yard, the gazebo is hidden in the falling rain and fog, sitting in the pavilion can have a panoramic view of everything from the main hall to the front of the mansion under the lights, but others cannot see anything in the gazebo.

The rain kept falling, the wind roared, the lightning flashed and thundered; time flowed quietly, and it was half an hour in a blink of an eye.

"Brother You Zai, stay here. I don't know where the lord is now. Haven't you rested?" In half an hour, two people left from the main hall one after another. When the third person stepped over the threshold and was about to leave, the middle-aged man rushed to greet him Going forward, he asked with a smile on his face.

"Uh, it turned out to be General Ziyuan. The discussion was over, and the lord was feeling depressed just now, so he drank a few more cups. Now he is a little drunk. Now don't drive Zhang Song to order someone to attend the lord's bed. Therefore, General Ziyuan is begging to see the lord at this time. I am afraid"

Before the other party finished speaking, "General Ziyuan" interjected: "Since that's the case, brother Lao Youzai will accompany me for another trip. After all, brother Youzai has just come out, and now I'm going to meet the lord with XX. If the lord doesn't want to see me, you won't blame me for brother Youzai's sake. Brother Youzai, please!" Before he could finish speaking, he picked up Dong He and walked back, obviously dragging and dragging him, not to be tolerated. Dong He refused.

It goes without saying that "General Ziyuan" is Zhonglang general Wu Yi and Wu Ziyuan, and the man in the cloak who follows him and is also called the "lord" by him is none other than Li Li and Li Wenchang.

The middle-aged civil servant who was forced to walk back by Wu Yi at this moment is the current Chengdu Commander Dong He, whose style name is Youzai.

Facing the arrogant Wu Yi, Dong He felt helpless. Being held by Wu Yi's arm in this way made him feel humiliated and unseemly.So he immediately relented: "General Ziyuan let go, I will accompany you for a while."

While turning his head to talk, Dong He noticed that there was a person behind Wu Yi, and he was wearing a black cloak, covering most of his face, so he couldn't see his appearance at all.

Seeing this, Dong He's expression changed suddenly, pointing at Li Li whose face was covered by a black cloak, he said anxiously to Wu Yi: "General Ziyuan, this person is... If Dong Mou remembers correctly, I am from Yizhou." It seems that there is no one with such a tall figure in civil and military?"

There was no need for Wu Yi to answer, Li Li opened his cloak after hearing the sound, and said with a smile on his face: "Brother Youzai is right. To tell you the truth, Mr. and Liu Zhoumu are old friends. Come to visit Zhou Mu; if you don't give up, you can also go to him."

ps: Sincerely thank: book friends "Ziyun Xinmeng" and "Happiness is Painful" book friends monthly support, thank you!

Chapter 159 Revolving lantern, the friendship of the landlord

"Oh? So good."

Dong He responded in astonishment. Although he was suspicious, he saw that Li Li Li was handsome and kind, with a warm smile, and his voice was full of emotion when he spoke, which was very contagious. He was definitely not a treacherous blackmailer.So he felt relieved, and whispered to Li Li while walking.

After meeting only once, Dong He felt that he and Li Li were congenial in their conversations, and they really hit it off.The key is that Li Li is very talkative, especially when he speaks highly of Dong He's current government order, which makes Dong He like talking to him, at least it is much more pleasant than talking to Wu Yi, a reckless man.

The conversation was so harmonious, but Dong He didn't even know Li Li's name at the moment, but Li Li knew him very well and had been paying attention to him for many days.

The current Chengdu Order, Dong He, has a young character, is upright and simple, has great political skills, and is a clean and honest official. After taking office as the Chengdu Order, he has practiced himself, advocated diligence and simplicity, and resisted extravagance.For this reason, the major families in the city complained about him, but they were in awe of him.Ever since he became the Commander of Chengdu, the big families in the city and the families of the gentry have not dared to make big arrangements for weddings and funerals. I have to bite the bullet and listen to Dong He's preaching, which is extremely embarrassing.

Because of this, during the more than a year since Dong He served as the commander of Chengdu, dozens of officials successively offered slander to Liu Zhang, secretly slandered Dong He, and wanted Liu Zhang to replace Dong He and send him to southwest counties, far away from the city. Chengdu.Liu Zhang accepted the suggestions of all the officials and wanted to remove Dong He and Chengdu Ling from their posts.Dong He asked calmly, "What's wrong with me?"

Liu Zhang was speechless immediately, and felt that it was really unconvincing to replace Dong He without reason, so he ordered people to collect Dong He's faults.Check everything in detail.However, the little official of Facao searched over and over several times, but he couldn't find any problems. Instead, he collected a bunch of political achievements that were deliberately covered up.Fortunately, Liu Zhang was not an extremely stupid person. After seeing Dong He's "criminal evidence" collected by the officials with great difficulty, he was very moved and retained him in his post.

However, Liu Zhang is a person who attaches great importance to face.After such a trouble, although he recognized Dong He's political ability in his heart.But he still doesn't like Dong He, and always feels that it hurts his face, so that Dong He seldom appears in front of him.Every routine meeting also excludes Dong He.

Now that the state city is surrounded by the Xiliang army, Dong He, who has never been favored by the aristocratic family and Liu Zhang, has become more important. Liu Zhang allows him to come to participate in the state pastoral affairs.

Said to participate in military and political discussions.In fact, Dong He is the audience most of the time.He has a low position and is not liked by the officials in the state government. He is alone and alone. Even if he advises Liu Zhang, he will not be taken seriously, let alone accepted, and it is useless to say it.And the reason why he was summoned by Liu Zhang to discuss matters was because Liu Zhang admired his righteousness from the bottom of his heart.Not afraid of the powerful, upright and upright.therefore.Although he seldom speaks out, as long as he speaks, what he says must be very pertinent, providing Liu Zhang with a strong reference for his final decision.I'm afraid that Dong He still doesn't know this, and he doesn't know his own value at all; so that he has always been thinking of "accompanying the prince to study", and was ordered to come to act as a spectator, listening more and talking less, so as not to offend Liu Zhang. Happy.

Relatively speaking, the reason why Dong He was able to enter Li Li's sight and aroused Li Li's high attention was because Dong He set an example and changed the atmosphere of advocating luxury in Chengdu and even Yizhou as a whole.

As we all know, the land of Shu was rich in products, and luxury was prevalent at that time, and merchant families dressed like princes, ate jade liquid and fine wine, and almost spent all their wealth on extravagance when it came to weddings and funerals.Dong He set an example for everyone with his own frugal behavior. He wore rough clothes and vegetarian food, and followed the etiquette system as the code of conduct. The local extravagant atmosphere was greatly changed, and everyone was afraid of him and did not dare to offend him.

Last year, some tyrants in Chengdu were afraid of Dong He's harshness, so they encouraged Liu Zhang to transfer Dong He as the capital of Badong.However, apart from finding no evidence, what Liu Zhang and the tyrants never imagined was that there were thousands of officials and people in Chengdu County supporting the old and the young to keep Dong He, so Liu Zhang had to let Dong He stay in office for two years.

These are all things that have already happened. In addition, in Li Li's prophetic memory, he also knows that Dong He has lived a frugal and simple life.Historically, after General Zuo Liu Bei occupied Yizhou, he recruited Dong He as the general in charge of the army, and co-chaired the affairs of General Zuo and Da Sima Mansion with Zhuge Liang, the military adviser general.Since Dong He lived in an official position, he governed externally to appease the ethnic minorities in the frontier, and participated in military and state affairs internally for more than 20 years. When he died, his family did not have a single grain of personal wealth.

This is unique among Shu Han officials in history. For this reason, after the death of Dong He, Zhuge Liang, who was then the prime minister of Shu Han, deeply missed Dong He. No, as for the ten evils, if you come to enlighten me, you will be too bright." Zhuge Liang has been cautious in his words and deeds all his life, and he has a talent of all over the world. Few people can point out his shortcomings, and finally get his approval and sincerity. Praise, Dong He is one of them.

Perhaps most people don't have much impression of Dong He, but if you mention Dong Yun, who was later called one of the "Four Prime Ministers of Shu Han" by the Shu people, you must be familiar with it. Dong Yun is the son of Dong He. (Remarks: The Four Prime Ministers of the Shu Han Dynasty: Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and Dong Yun.)

Because of this, when Dong He came out of the main hall of the State Shepherd's Mansion, when Wu Yi mentioned Dong He's name, Li Li asked Wu Yi to stop him to prevent him from being affected by the upheaval that was about to happen.It is not difficult to see from this that Li Li attaches great importance to Dong He and does not want to see such an extremely rare "honest and good official" involved in the struggle, so he tries to keep him in the state pastoral mansion by his side.

The backyard of the state capital, the inner hall.

When Li Li, Wu Yi and Dong He rushed to the second hall, they happened to see Zhang Song and two servants escorting the half-drunk and half-awake Liu Zhang into the backyard, so they followed Zhang Song and others into the inner hall.

"Hey, why did You Zai go and come back?"

Just as Liu Zhang was helped to sit down in the hall, Zhang Song was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Mu Ran turned around and saw Dong He who had just left appeared at the door of the inner hall.Zhang Song was immediately surprised, and asked the reason casually, but before he finished speaking, he saw Wu Yi and a tall and handsome young man crossing the threshold and striding into the hall.

"General Ziyuan is here too. I don't know who this young master is." Seeing Wu Yi bringing a stranger to the inner hall late at night, Zhang Song's expression changed, and he pretended to greet Wu Yi as if nothing had happened.When talking about the handsome man, Zhang Song's pupils shrank suddenly, his eyelids twitched violently, and he stood up with a bang, his surprise beyond words, his face full of horror, and his voice stopped abruptly.

Dong He, who was pushed into the inner hall by Wu Yi, didn't notice Zhang Song's horrified look. His attention was all on Liu Zhang, who was leaning on the seat and pretending to be asleep. Bowing down and saluting, he said, "My lord, General Wu Yi has something to ask for an interview, and I would like to recommend a sage." Apparently, after less than a quarter of an hour of conversation, Dong He decided that Li Lin was a sage of the world, so he didn't wait for Wu Yi. As soon as Yi opened his mouth to speak, he was the first to introduce him, as if he was afraid that Liu Zhang would miss this talented person.

However, when Dong He was talking, he saw a scene that made his face change in shock: Li Li, who had been following him and Wu Yi, stepped into the inner hall without any intention of stopping. Walking past Wu Yi and Dong He, he went straight to the upper steps of the inner hall and sat side by side with Liu Zhang.Then, I saw that he picked up the teapot on the table, poured two cups of tea slowly, took a sip from one of the teas, and pushed the other cup in front of Liu Zhang.

Seeing this scene, Dong He's expression suddenly changed, and he said anxiously: "In front of the lord, brother, don't be rude, hurry up!"

Before Dong He could finish speaking, Li Li raised his hand to signal him to be silent, then pointed to the case table on the left, and signaled Dong He to sit aside and wait for the changes without further words.

At this moment, Dong He found that Li Li's demeanor and behavior were quite different from before. His eyes were deep and firm, and his calm expression carried an indescribable majesty of a superior. of deterrence.As a result, when Dong He saw Li Li's hand gesture, he swallowed the words, stood up and stepped aside, and slowly sat down in astonishment and inexplicable.

"It was raining and the wind was blowing outside the door. Ziyuan closed the door. I have been away from Jiyu for many years. I came here this time to catch up with Jiyu. Let's sit down and drink tea in peace, no matter what you hear. Cut in, or don't blame Li for not being sympathetic!"

The outrageous words came out of Li Li's mouth so naturally that Zhang Song, who was already dazed, woke up when he heard the sound, and nodded his head knowingly, and sat down under Dong He without hesitation.Immediately, Zhang Song stretched out his right hand tremblingly to grab the teapot, poured Dong He a cup of tea, and then poured two more cups; one cup was Wu Yi's, and the other cup was his own.Dong He, who was sitting next to him, finally saw a clue, knowing that Zhang Song must know the man sitting next to Liu Zhang, and Wu Yi did not intend to introduce the man to the lord Liu Zhang at all, but the man's confidant and entourage.

Thinking of this, Dong He couldn't help guessing who this extraordinary man was, who could make Zhang Song, who had always been so high-spirited, silent, dare not say a word, and even subdue Wu Yi, a veteran of Yizhou. Generals, and bowed their heads and listened to him, and obeyed his orders.What surprised him the most was that this person dared to sit side by side with Liu Zhang, and his expression was composed, with the majesty and aura of a long-time superior in his brows, and his demeanor and majesty were still above Liu Zhang.

Just as Dong He was thinking to himself, Li Li's casual voice sounded again in the hall: "After a long absence, old friends meet again. Shouldn't Brother Ji Yu be a landlord?"

Chapter 160 To Youth, Keep Your Word

While pondering to himself, a sentence that the man inadvertently revealed just now came to Dong He's mind: "This time I came from a long distance, just to catch up with Ji Yu."

Dong He didn't notice the deep meaning of this sentence before, but now he has a different feeling in retrospect, so he can't help linking the identity of the handsome man with the Xiliang Army outside the city.

Didn't the Xiliang army that was besieging the city of Zhou just come from thousands of miles away?

Thinking of these, combined with Li Li's handsome appearance and demeanor, a very familiar but unfamiliar name suddenly flooded Dong He's mind.

The moment Dong He guessed the answer, Li Li's casual voice sounded again in the hall: "It's not easy to reunite old friends after a long absence. This time, Li came all the way from thousands of miles. Shouldn't Brother Ji Yu be a landlord? ?"

"Uh, reunion with old friends?" Liu Zhang, who was leaning on the seat and closed his eyes and dozed off, was startled when he heard the voice lingering in his ears. Then he slowly opened his eyes and followed the sound to look at Li Li with drunk eyes.