Long live the general

She has been to Xixuan Temple several times. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is very lively here. The Xixuan Temple at night is mysterious and beautiful. Huo Lingyue has never been here during the day, and only occasionally heard about it from Chen Menghe. The description of Xixuan Temple.

I heard that Xixuan Temple is very spiritual. Even if it is not the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are pilgrims coming and going. Huo Lingyue didn't know where to go, so she walked under the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree. They used to be here I watched the Mid-Autumn Festival fireworks under a tree. At that time, there were crowds of people all around, the flowers were in full bloom, and everything was beautiful.

Huo Lingyue walked under the ginkgo tree, Xiaodaotong brought red paper, Huo Lingyue wrote the words "no disease, no disaster" and hung it on the ginkgo tree.

"Xiaoyue?" A familiar voice came from behind.

Huo Lingyue turned her head and saw Chen Menghe under the ginkgo tree. Chen Menghe was sitting in a wheelchair with an attendant behind him pushing him.

"Brother Menghe, why are you here?" Huo Lingyue walked over, and she smelled the thuja fragrance on Chen Menghe's body, which was exactly the same as the fragrance from the Taoist temple.

This fragrance has been on Chen Menghe for a long time.

"My mother came to offer incense to fulfill her wish, and I came with her." Chen Menghe said, he actually came here often, and he was a little surprised when he saw Huo Lingyue: "What about you? Did you come here alone?"

"My little uncle... and grandma came together." Huo Lingyue asked casually, "Do you want to make a wish? Let me hang it up for you."

"I don't need it." Chen Menghe heard the weirdness in her tone, and asked softly: "Xiaoyue, your grandma... what's wrong?"

Huo Lingyue exhaled softly: "I'm sick."

Just hearing what she said, Chen Menghe knew that the situation must be very bad.

He didn't ask about his condition in detail, but asked the attendant to leave temporarily, and said to Huo Lingyue, "Would you like to walk with me?"

Huo Lingyue came over to push his wheelchair. Chen Menghe pointed in another direction and said, "There is a place behind here, an unknown bamboo forest. I found it by accident. From there, you can overlook the entire Chang'an City."

Huo Lingyue pushed the wheelchair there according to his guidance. The wheelchair was obviously very inconvenient, but Chen Menghe could always find a suitable way. He was more familiar with Xixuan Temple than Huo Lingyue imagined. She couldn't help asking: "Do you often come to Xixuan Temple?"

"Yes." Chen Menghe said frankly: "Ever since I broke my legs, my mother often comes to Xixuanguan to pray for me."

Huo Lingyue paused, her eyes fell on his legs, and she couldn't bear to look away.

"It must be very painful..." Huo Lingyue murmured.

"It was like this at the beginning." Chen Menghe's voice was faint, like the quiet and gentle wind in the forest: "I was enlightened relatively early, and many people praised me for being smart, saying that I will definitely achieve a great career in the future. So suddenly this kind of bad luck happened, I was furious, crazy, couldn't accept it, and even blamed my parents. Why? It was me. At that time, I often thought, I never did anything bad, but bad luck happened to me I have no future anymore, those stupid guys cast me sympathy, curiosity, disgust and sarcasm, why?, if I can stand up, walk, run, mount a horse and shoot an arrow, I will be worse than anyone ?"

Huo Lingyue was silent for a while, and said: "You are no worse than anyone now, I always think you are very good...I admire you very much."

Chen Menghe couldn't help looking up at her, Huo Lingyue lowered her eyes, there was a gentle and sad light in her eyes.

Chen Menghe heard his heart beating violently. He originally wanted to comfort Huo Lingyue, but... even though he had accepted the reality, he was still moved by Huo Lingyue's simple and sincere words.

But? At the same time, he also felt sad for his ups and downs.

He closed his eyes and said slowly: "Those were all things when I was a child. In fact, I don't remember very clearly. My mother shed tears all day long, but she didn't dare to let me know, and she still smiled at me. Father did He made a decision that in order not to make me feel abandoned, he would not have any more children."

"They love you very much." Huo Lingyue said, she lowered her head and thought for a while, thinking that grandma and little uncle also love me very much.

Chen Menghe nodded: "Yes, they love me very much. At that time, all I could think about was why? Why? I was going to suffer this kind of bad luck. The books I read before were useless. They couldn't help me at all. The world The common people? I can't even stand up and get out of this wheelchair."

Huo Lingyue choked her throat. She had never experienced such pain, so no matter what she said, she felt offended.

"But? Then I figured it out slowly." Chen Menghe said slowly: "It just takes time, but? If I don't have my parents, I'm afraid I need more time. At that time, I could only read books in the house, but? I will gradually cover more areas, I have a lot of time. Reading is a very interesting thing, some people spend their whole life? Write a book, the book is all they have, and I can use it In just a few days, I looked at a person's thoughts and life. Although I never went out, I seemed to know a lot of people, and I didn't care about their appearance and status. Later, I didn't care much about my legs. gone."

Chen Menghe raised his head and smiled: "Instead, I started to feel lucky that the only broken leg was, my eyes were not blind, my ears could hear, my mouth could still speak, and I could still express my thoughts."

They finally reached the bamboo forest, which was at a very high position, overlooking the entire Chang'an City and all the living beings in it.

How many of them are suffering, desperate, and about to cry, but they can only move on.

Huo Lingyue stood beside Chen Menghe, the wind blew up her long skirt, and the skirt fell on Chen Menghe's lap.

Chen Menghe was startled, and gently put down the hem of the skirt.

"Let's go back, the wind is a bit strong." Huo Lingyue knew nothing about this little trick, she said: "Brother Menghe, you will definitely get what you want in the future."

I hope so.

Chen Menghe thought, I have already accepted it.

But? It's what I want now, and it's so close at hand, but I can't reach out to get close to it.

Huo Lingyue pushed Chen Menghe back to the Xixuan Temple, and Cong Yunmeng had a happy conversation with Chen Menghe's mother. When they saw the two of them coming back, they waved at the same time.

"Just now? Brother Menghe took me to see the bamboo forest." Huo Lingyue pushed Chen Menghe forward, Cong Yunmeng patted her head, and asked, "Does it look good?"

"It's beautiful." Huo Lingyue said, "I didn't even know there was such a place."

Chen Menghe smiled, and his mother said softly, "Mrs. Huo, Xiaoyue, let's go first."

After they left, Cong Yunmeng said: "The young master of the Chen family is not bad."

She knew that Huo Lingyue and Chen Menghe played very well. Huo Lingyue listened to Chen Menghe's words when she was a child, and she has always maintained a good friend relationship.

"You don't need too many true friends, just one or two close friends are enough, like Chen Menghe and Li Feng." Cong Yunmeng said happily: "It's great that you have such friends."

Most importantly, she could see that after returning with Chen Menghe, Huo Lingyue seemed a lot more relaxed, probably because he had figured out a lot of things.

Cong Yunmeng suddenly asked: "Xiaoyue, who do you like?"

Huo Lingyue closed her mouth and shook her head.

"Then what do you want to do?" Cong Yunmeng asked her softly, Huo Lingyue is indeed smart, and after being taught by many people, she has extraordinary knowledge, but? She is still young after all, Cong Yunmeng hopes that she can do more rely on elders.

Huo Lingyue raised her head and said, "Grandma, what do I want to do? You should know."

Cong Yun dreamed of what they talked about before, and sighed: "But your little uncle thinks so too?"

"Then it depends on which of us is better." Huo Lingyue smiled and asked, "Hey, where's little uncle?"

Cong Yunmeng said: "He's still inside and hasn't come out yet, let's wait for a while."

"Who did he go to see?" Huo Lingyue wondered.

"Listen to Daoist Master Chen." Cong Yunmeng said: "When your little uncle was very young, this Taoist priest came to the door and said that he has spiritual roots, and let us let your little uncle go to practice Taoism with him."

Huo Lingyue's eyes widened.

"However, we refused. Later, by chance, Huo Yi met Daoist Tingchen. They have always been in contact. Daoist Tingchen has always been on the move. Today, it is very lucky to be in Xixuan Temple."

Huo Lingyue didn't know whether to regret or be thankful, she said in a complicated tone: "Little uncle used to have this kind of thing."

"There's a lot to do." Cong Yunmeng said enthusiastically, "Before he comes back, I'll tell you about the time when he fell off his horse and cried when he was a child..."

Daoist Tingchen of Xixuanguan, no matter what time Huo Yi came to see him, he always looked lazy.But? There is a very tenacious power in his body. The world he sees in his eyes must be different from that of ordinary people.

When Huo Yi passed by, Xiao Daotong opened the door, and Taoist Master Tingchen was waiting for him in the room, with two cups of tea on the table.

"Come on, have some tea first." Daoist Tingchen was not surprised by his appearance.

Huo Yi walked over and sat down, there was a floating tea leaf on the tea, the water temperature was just right, suitable for drinking it all in one gulp.

"The priest knows I'm coming?" Huo Yi took a sip of his tea.

"Forget it." Taoist Master Tingchen said.

"Then you also know why I came here."

"Ah."

Huo Yi put down his teacup and performed a Taoist clasped fist ceremony: "Master Daoist, I ask you to save my mother's life."

Daoist Tingchen looked down at him and said, "This is fate."

"I don't believe in fate."

Daoist Tingchen expected his answer, but he just didn't understand: "Why are you so unwilling, old man? At Madam's age, there will always be various problems with the body."

Huo Yi said in a low voice: "If I got such a disease, my mother would definitely pay all the price, even if she sacrificed her life, she would never give up."

Hearing that Daoist Chen was shocked, he took a deep look at Huo Yi, got up and said, "Come with me."

They walked out of the door, all the way back, the surrounding became more and more quiet, there were no pilgrims here, not even a few Taoist boys.They walked into a forest, and a crystal-clear stream lay in front of them. The sunlight sprinkled the stream with glittering spots of light. There were a few fish in it, and their wandering figures were reflected on the bottom of the stream.

There are birds chirping in the forest, but it seems that this place is more secluded.

"Unfortunately, in this world, there is no medical technique that can exchange lives for lives." Taoist Master Tingchen said.

Is this the response to that sentence just now? Huo Yi's last hope was shattered, and he asked in a low voice: "Master Dao, can you do nothing?"

"I am studying medicine, and there is a limit to medical skills." Taoist Tingchen said, "Birth, old age, sickness and death, this is a reincarnation that everyone will go through, and time will not spare anyone."

Huo Yi stared blankly at the stream in front of him.

Daoist Tingchen squatted down and put his hands in the stream, and the fish came up to suck his fingertips, and he said softly: "Huo Yi, human life? There is an eternal lack of life."

Huo Yi: "Lack?"

"We never have enough time." Taoist Tingchen said: "Time is always moving forward, just like this stream, you can never touch the same stream."

Huo Yi squatted down and put his fingers into the cool stream.The water flowed around his fingertips, running forward without stopping.

"I'm very sad." Huo Yi put his palm completely into the stream, and said softly: "I feel guilty, I'm sorry for her, when she was healthy and free of illness, I didn't have a good day to accompany her. If she leaves suddenly, I will live in this kind of guilt all my life. In fact, I can’t remember many things when I was a child, but? I remember that she paid a lot for me, but I didn’t have time to give her anything in return.”

Cong Yunmeng lives in the Huo Mansion, except for mentioning her hometown occasionally, she doesn't seem to want anything.She never let Huo Yi worry, those gold and silver treasures, the glory in name, is not what Cong Yunmeng really wants.

"I just want to spend more time with her." Too many bad things happened to Cong Yunmeng, Huo Fengnian committed suicide, Huo Xin and his sister-in-law died, and he himself was away for a long time, Cong Yunmeng has been looking at the people around him When people leave, she is always alone.

But maybe, people are lonely in this life.

After Cong Yunmeng and Huo Lingyue had finished telling the story about Huo Yi falling into a dog eating mud while practicing swordsmanship, they were still unsatisfied. Just as they were about to continue, Huo Yi came out from the backyard.

As soon as he came out, he saw Cong Yunmeng and Huo Lingyue facing each other and laughing.

Huo Yi: "...?"

Huo Lingyue said with a smile: "Little uncle, you used to steal food..."

"Okay, okay, save him some face, after all, he's in his thirties now." Cong Yunmeng stood up, and she noticed that Huo Yi's hands were wet, but didn't ask any more questions, and said directly: "let's go."

Huo Yi nodded.

He supported Cong Yunmeng and asked, "Mother, do you want to go back to Shu County?"

Cong Yunmeng's eyes lit up, for her, the food in Shu County will always be better than that in Chang'an City.

"Forget it now." Now that Huo Yi is sitting in the position of Da Sima, how can he leave casually, Cong Yun thought about it, and said: "In the future, take me back to Shu County. I used to grow in the back mountain when I was young A peach tree, I don’t know what’s going on now.”

When she said later, she naturally meant after the illness and death.

After returning from Xixuanguan, the atmosphere in Huo's mansion became much more relaxed. Cong Yunmeng would not let Huo Yi stay at home to take care of her every day, and even Huo Lingyue was driven out by her, saying that staying with patients every day was not good. Well, it's not like there is no maid at home to take care of her.Huo Yi had no choice but to go to court every day.

In the past few days, the court was solving the problem of funding for the establishment of five counties in the Hexi Corridor. That day Zhou Zhenyan asked Zhang Laiqian to find a way, and Zhang Laiqian really thought of a way out.

The biggest profit in the world doesn't care about salt and iron.

It's not that the net profit of salt and iron is more profitable, but that every common people must buy necessities. Salt must be used for food. Without iron, they can't plow the land well.

Now the salt and iron are in the hands of merchants. It is rumored that the Zhuo family in Linqiong has thousands of attendants, the Kong family in Nanyang has a thousand gold, and the Qiu family has a huge wealth... They all made their fortunes in iron smelting, and the coastal areas have a lot of salt.Dai Viet allowed the people to rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, and to rely on the sea to eat the sea. They only set up a "Shanze Tax".Zhou Zhenxie had raised the commercial tax alone before, but no matter how high the commercial tax was, there were still people who followed suit, which showed that they had indeed made a lot of money from it.

Zhang Laiqian wanted to increase the tax on salt and iron. He said a very terrible figure. Many ministers and ministers present looked hesitant, because this is a difficult matter that will inevitably arouse opposition.There are still many ministers whose interests will be damaged. After all, the profits of salt and iron are so huge, it is impossible for them not to intervene.

Qiu Hongguang felt even more embarrassed.

He finally recalled that his family had made their fortune from salt and iron, and this knife had been cut firmly on him.

Huo Yi told him to be calm and not to be impatient. After the court discussion was temporarily over, many people went to inquire about Qiu Hongguang's thoughts. After all, everyone knew his origin now.Qiu Hongguang sent them away, and then went to ask Huo Yi.

Qiu Hongguang still subconsciously referred to Huo Yi's opinion.

Huo Yi said: "In fact, this may not be a good opportunity. You should write a letter to the Patriarch of the Qiu family and ask him what he thinks."

"Write a letter? What to write?" Qiu Hongguang didn't understand, so he had a very vague concept of money, and he didn't like doing business, otherwise he wouldn't have left his huge family business to join the army.

Huo Yi patiently analyzed for him: "Your Majesty is short of money now, and always let Zhang Dasinong find a way to get money alone. No matter how good Zhang Dasinong is, he will run out of inspiration. This kind of thing is still specialized in art. Think about it, Do you want your father to advise His Majesty?"

"You mean, let him come to Chang'an City?!" Qiu Hongguang quickly understood everything: "Can His Majesty agree? Isn't he always suppressing businessmen?"

"Your Majesty's suppression of businessmen is due to the situation, not any objection to them. As long as it can be used by him, he doesn't care about his background." Huo Yi said: "I think this is a good thing that kills multiple birds with one stone. You can give it to your father first. Write a letter to test it out."

"Multiple actions?"

"Yeah, since Zhang Dasinong has already set his sights on Yantie, it will definitely not be easy to do in the future, and it may even become a key target of suppression. Maybe a few wealthy businessmen will be caught as models. You let your father come to Chang'an, maybe You can avoid this disaster." Huo Yi had a deep understanding of Zhou Zhenyan's way of making money, he said: "Secondly, businessmen are also ordinary people after all, and the court has been watching. If your father can take this opportunity to leave Going to the court, abandoning business and pursuing politics, with you in the court, wouldn't it be like a fish in water."

"What else?" Qiu Hongguang asked.

Huo Yi rubbed his nose: "The other thing is to find some useful talents for His Majesty."

The third point was different from Qiu Hongguang's imagination, but he didn't think much about it. The words Huo Yi said echoed over and over in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more reasonable he felt, and he decided to go home and write a letter on the spot.

He reckoned that when the letter had just been mailed home, he saw a simple and spacious carriage at the gate of Da Sima's mansion.

A very familiar middle-aged man, whom he hadn't seen for many years, stepped out of the carriage. He had a big belly, and his bones were three-to-one similar to Qiu Hongguang's. He could barely see the handsome and romantic youth from his full face, but he had been extravagant for many years. The life of desire made him grow completely horizontally, and the only thing that is somewhat similar to before is the pair of shrewd and capable eyes.

"Guang'er! You are really showing respect to Qiu's parents!" The man opened his arms and rushed towards Qiu Hongguang.

Qiu Hongguang swiftly avoided it and shouted, "Who are you!"

"Guang'er, you don't even recognize your father." Qiu Junmao lowered his eyes, pretending to be sad.

Qiu Hongguang: "...Father, why are you getting fat again?"

Qiu Junmao: "It's okay, it's okay, the food is good."

"This carriage is not your usual style." Qiu Hongguang looked at the carriage. The appearance was very simple, and the drawing horse was also a breed that could be seen everywhere, which was completely different from his father's extravagant and gorgeous style in the past.

"Come to Chang'an City, it's better to keep a low profile." Qiu Junmao sniffled and said, "Let me in first, I brought you a lot of presents, and your mother insisted that I bring them."

Qiu Hongguang took a step forward curiously, opened the car curtain, squinted his eyes immediately, and was forced to lean back by the glittering gems inside, his father was really extravagant and very low-key.

The servants moved their things into the Da Sima Mansion. Qiu Hongguang is very adaptable. He can live a luxurious life in Qiu's house, endure hardships in the military camp, and roam the limits of life and death in battle. On the edge, back to Chang'an City, you can still enjoy the prosperity and comfort of Chang'an. The Da Sima Mansion has also been well decorated, at least Qiu Junmao can't find any problems.

They went to the hall, and the attendants brought tea, Qiu Junmao looked around and said, "You have a little lack of servants here."

"So much is enough. General Huo's family has less talents. I think it's pretty good. It saves you the trouble of walking around." Qiu Hongguang said: "And in Chang'an City, at the foot of the emperor, Too many servants risk being beheaded."

"So? Powerful?" Qiu Junmao was taken aback: "Chang'an City is really extraordinary."

Qiu Hongguang asked him to drink tea: "This tea was given to me by General Huo Da, so don't waste it. By the way, Dad, why are you here? Did you receive my letter? That's not the case? Hurry up? "And his father brought so many things, no matter how you look at it, he can't run fast.

Qiu Junmao asked: "What? Letter, did you send me a letter?"

"Then why did you come to Chang'an?!" Qiu Hongguang asked suspiciously, "You can't come to see me, can you?"

"Hi, I stayed at home well, what are you doing here to see you?" Qiu Junmao said with a smile, "I have received news from Chang'an that His Majesty intends to target Yantie, so he came here to advise His Majesty."

Qiu Junmao said slowly: "What if you come a step late and are preempted by other people? I told you, in business, speed is very important."