"It's about visiting the suburban market, hanging on the gardens and houses, seeing the magnificence of the city, and writing about the characters of Yinfu." [Oubei Poetry]
Henan Yin, Luoyang.
Liu Yi, the official of Yingchuan County, stood in front of the city gate and looked at Luoyang City, which used to be full of bustling people and was now in a dilapidated state. There were very few cultivated farmlands outside the city. The once fertile fields have now been destroyed by wild crops. Jungles occupy the city. Most of the city of Luoyang is in ruins. Although Zhu Jun and the new Henan Yin settled in Luoyang as early as this time last year and renovated it, there are still many broken bricks and tiles in the houses that have not been cleaned up in time. Scattered carelessly on the ground.
Luoyang ordered Du Xi to walk silently beside Liu Yi, and said with an uneasy smile: "When I first came here, Luoyang City was even more inconspicuous than it is now. It was really called a deserted city. It's better now. , the former general, Henan Yindu is stationed in Luoyang, and the people and refugees from all over the country are gradually returning to their hometowns. If it weren't for the fact that the current priority is to carry out farming and no large-scale construction is allowed, I really want to call in laborers to clean up Luoyang inside and outside. Well, with things like this now, it will be fine if we just put on a little facade."
The two dismounted and walked through the former site of Nangong, the mottled palace walls, the half-empty compound road above the long street, and a brand-new Sima Gate that was tightly closed. Everything was so peaceful, as if the old man had endured it all his life. The ups and downs of the past, now with scars and fatigue, I sit quietly at the entrance of the alley and take a nap.
Seeing this, Liu Yi's compassionate character made him unable to help but burst into tears.
"The state has a clear edict that Luoyang palaces are not allowed to be renovated." Du Xi didn't know whether he was used to the scene of Luoyang's decline, or he was used to seeing every official who came to Luoyang burst into tears when they saw Luoyang. He introduced plainly: "But the door is open, and the ruins inside are visible to passers-by. It is unseemly. Moreover, there may be some treasures buried under the rubble. In order to prevent thieves and refugees from entering, we specially asked people to seal the palace door." The palace walls were rebuilt and filled in."
Liu Yi secretly wiped his tears and bowed to Du Xi, "With Mr. Du here, it will not be difficult for Luoyang to return to its former glory."
Du Xi was a native of Dingling, Yingchuan. When Li Jue and others led troops to ravage Yingchuan, he, Zhao Yan and Fan Qin from the same county fled to Jingzhou to avoid the chaos. Later, when they learned that the court was stable, the imperial servant Zhao Qi came out to comfort him. Therefore, They agreed to return together and prepared to recommend themselves to the court. As a result, he was favored by Zhu Jun and was directly reported as the Luoyang Order. At that time, the emperor had the idea of administering officials to manage the department, but seeing that Luoyang was in urgent need of a capable and capable director, so So he made an exception and granted the appointment, but lowered the rank of Luoyang Order from the original one thousand stones to four hundred stones, and still called him an order.
Now, almost a year has passed, and Zhao Yan and others are still preparing for the upcoming September examination in the Civil Affairs Department, while Du Xi has become a court official in charge of civil administration.
He wasted a year without joining the Department of Civil Service and was ahead of Zhao Yan and others in his official career. This was something that Du Xi had always been secretly happy about.
"Zixiang is so impressed." Du Xi said modestly: "I only hope that after the world is at peace, I will return to the capital and the country will see that Luoyang is peaceful and peaceful, and I will be satisfied."
Liu Yi, named Zixiang, was from Yingyin, Yingchuan, and was a fellow villager in the same county as Du Xi. Liu Yi came from a noble family and was generous and righteous. He often opened his private treasury to help the people. Du Xi, Zhao Yan and others originally He was greatly favored by Liu Yi, who came to Luoyang this time as a messenger from Xu Qiu, the governor of Yingchuan County. Du Xi, who was the order of Luoyang, learned about it and went out of the city to receive him in person.
"That's right." Du Xi seemed to have remembered something and asked softly: "I heard that Mr. Xu has a lot of trust in you. At the end of the year, he will definitely send you to Chang'an to make plans, right? How about, with your talents, I can use this to It is not difficult to choose to join the Department of Civil Affairs."
This was something Liu Yi had never thought about. After the two of them passed the palace gate on foot, they immediately mounted their horses and rode off. After some consideration, he shook his head and said, "No, I still can't bear to leave my hometown elders."
Du Ximo ran, when he and Zhao Yan and others went south to seek refuge, he invited Liu Yi to go with him, but Liu Yi also used this reason to reject him. At that time, Li Jue was wreaking havoc in Yingchuan, and even the Xun clan and manor were affected. Although Liu Yi was able to complete the task alone, it must be said that good deeds are rewarded with good deeds.
Everyone had their own ambitions, and Du Xi no longer mentioned the matter. The two soon arrived at the former general Zhu Jun's residence in the city. This was the former residence of Zhao Zhong, the former imperial minister. Due to the spacious area, the house was relatively well preserved. , so it was 'borrowed' by Zhu Jun.
As soon as he got off his horse, he was met by Zhang Chao, an old subordinate who had followed Zhu Jun in the Northern and Southern War, Henan Diannong School Captain. When he saw Du Xi, he waved his hand and said, "The prince is not here."
"Were you at that person's house again?" Du Xi frowned upon hearing this, seeming a little unhappy.
"Eh." Zhang Chao was a loyal middle-aged general, and he really couldn't understand why Zhu Jun, who had a violent temper, would still be obedient to a young man with no reputation.
"What's wrong?" Liu Yi didn't understand what the two were talking about.
Du Xi sighed and said: "He is a newly recruited military adviser with a somewhat peculiar temperament. Speaking of which, you should have heard his name in Yingchuan... Come with me and I will introduce him to you."
With doubts, a few people quickly came to another mansion. This house was not spacious and looked like an ordinary residential house. From the outside, there was nothing noteworthy about it. Liu Yi followed with curiosity and speculation. After everyone walked in, they found that the inside was even more ordinary than the outside.
After entering the neatly laid out second courtyard, the few people were led by Cang Tou to approach the master's study when they heard several noisy sounds coming from the study.
The voice was deep, powerful, and powerful, like an old lion.
Zhang Chao knew it was Zhu Jun's voice as soon as he heard it.
"You boy, I am also your chief officer after all!"
This was followed by a leisurely chuckle: "But didn't I just make you regret two steps, Mr. Ming?"
"You... I'm asking you, can you please stop hugging the maid when you play chess with me?" Zhu Jun was speechless for a moment.
"Oh." The young man seemed to understand, and then said in a very serious tone: "Ming Gong wants to regret his chess and let him do as he pleases, but please forgive me for my beautiful maid and wine, and we must not give in to each other."
"You! That's not what I meant!"
"Ahem." Du Xi couldn't bear it. He looked at Zhang Chao, who was equally embarrassed, and without saying anything, they pushed the ajar door open.
Even though he was prepared, the scene in the room still left Liu Yi stunned.
There were three people in the room, an old man and a young man sitting opposite each other. In the middle was a game of chess that was being played in the middle. The old man was pointing angrily at the handsome and thin young man in front of him. When he saw others walking in, he immediately stopped smiling and made a gesture. He looked serious. But the young man was still smiling uninhibitedly. In his arms was a beautiful maid, half lying and half leaning on her. Her breasts were high under her thin clothes. One of the young man's hands was Wandering among the mountains.
Needless to say, Liu Yi also knew their respective identities. This old man was the former general who was stationed in Luoyang, the governor of Yuzhou, and the Marquis of Qiantang Zhu Jun. The young man opposite him who looked to be in his early twenties was also known to Liu Yi. , in the circle of Yingchuan scholars, it is difficult to know this person’s name.
"Guo Jia and Guo Fengxiao, a native of Yangzhai, Yingchuan, are now serving as military advisors under the former general." Du Xi glanced at the young man expressionlessly and introduced him on his behalf.