As noon approached, the restaurant became more and more lively. The seats in the lobby were already full, and the drinkers were talking loudly among themselves, creating a commotion and noise.
Jia Lu was listening carefully to Liu Futong's news when he suddenly heard someone scolding Dong Tuanxiao.
"Hehe, that thief Dong Tuanxiao always thinks how powerful he is, but in the end he can't even deal with a Maogui. I think Shandong's defeat has been decided!"
Looking around, I saw two middle-aged men speaking.
Jia Lu vaguely felt that the two of them looked familiar and greeted them.
"Two friends, would you like to come over for a drink?"
The two people turned to look at him.
One of them was taken aback and exclaimed: "Jia Lu! Why are you here!"
When Jia Lu heard this voice, he was very familiar with it. There was a flash in his mind and he lost his voice: "Are you His Royal Highness the King of Xining?"
Those two people were Bo Luo Buhua and Xining Wang. Because they had changed into Chinese costumes and their buns were tied high, Jia Lu didn't recognize them for a moment.
Polo Buhua and King Xining looked at each other and walked to Jia Lu's table together.
"Jia Lu, why did you come to Jiangdu? Could it be that Dong Tuanxiao sent you here?" Polo Buhua asked.
Jia Lu didn't know how to answer for a moment, so he was silent for a while and whispered: "I have resigned and gone into seclusion and have nothing to do with Yuan Ting!"
Polo Buhua's expression softened and he smiled and said: "That's good."
He sat down next to him and said, "I hope we can get to know each other. If you have any difficulties in Jiang in the future, you can come to us."
Jia Lu looked at the two of them and said: "You two are..."
The King of Xining said: "We have all joined the Jiangdu Army as officials, and we are now serving as officials in Honglu Temple."
Jalu nodded.
Polo Buhua turned to stare at Liu Ju and suddenly said: "Why do you look familiar? Have we met somewhere?"
Liu Juqi smiled and said: "Liu once worked as a deputy Qianhu next to Zhang Mingjian, and he met His Highness several times!"
Boluo Buhua hated Zhang Mingjian the most in his life. He snorted and said, "So you are Zhang Mingjian's man. Where is he now? Is he dead?"
Liu Judao: "He has been killed by Fang Guozhen!"
Polo Buhua clapped his hands and said with a smile: "A good death!"
Jia Lu hesitated for a moment and said: "Your Highnesses, I just heard you mention Mao Gui and Dong Da...Dong Tuanxiao, can you explain the situation to me in detail?"
Polo Buhua said suspiciously: "Don't you know?"
Jia Lu whispered: "The place where I retreat is very remote, so it is difficult to find out this news!"
Bo Luo Buhua nodded and said: "Mao Gui followed Liu Futong's order and led the troops to attack Shandong. No one thought that this guy was so powerful, and he was invincible and unstoppable in Shandong!"
Jia Lu hurriedly said: "Since they occupy Shandong, their biggest target should be Jinan, right?"
The King of Xining smiled and said: "As expected of Duke Jia, he has a unique vision. I heard that Mao Gui attacked Jinan once, and Dong Tuanxiao happened to be in charge of Jinan at that time!"
Jia Lu hurriedly asked: "How is the battle going?"
The king of Xining said: "We are evenly matched. Mao Gui did not defeat him, but Dong Tuanxiao did not dare to go out of the city to fight head-on. Later, seeing that he could not defeat him, Mao Gui led his army to retreat!"
Jia Lu was stunned and speechless.
Mao Gui was able to pin Dong Tuanxiao in the city and make him dare not leave the city to pursue him. Has the world situation changed so quickly?
Bo Luo Buhua said with a smile: "Mao Gui became famous in the first battle. Many heroes in Shandong rose up in response. A man named Tian Feng captured Jining Road, and a volunteer named Yu Bao killed thousands of the imperial privy councilors and laid down the city.
To Dizhou."
In the eyes of Boluo Buhua and King Xining, the Yuan Dynasty is now like a big ship leaking water everywhere.
And they had just escaped from the big ship and boarded a larger and more stable ship, so they all had a gloating attitude.
In contrast, when Jia Lu learned that the imperial court had suffered such a defeat, his mood was even heavier than theirs.
After a while, Jia Lu asked again: "Where is Chahan Timur now?"
Polo Buhua's face looked slightly unnatural.
"He suppressed another Song army in Shaanxi. The leader of that Song army was Li Wu, who had no ability. He was defeated several times by Chahan Timur and fled to Xingyuan (Hanzhong)."
Jia Lu nodded silently, as long as Chahan Timur was not defeated, Yuan Ting still had hope.
The two sides chatted for a while, and Liu Ju deliberately mentioned the battle of Japan.
Bo Luo Buhua curled his lips and said: "Japanese country, it's just a small country, but it dares to detain our people, and was beaten to pieces by Chang Yuchun and General Geng San!"
Neither Liu Ju nor Jia Lu said a word.
Polo Buhua felt that the conversation with these two people was not congenial, and he could not urinate into the same pot, so he stood up and said: "You guys drink, we are going back."
He returned to his table with King Xining and continued to drink and curse Dong Tuanxiao.
Both Liu Ju and Jia Lu were a little bored, so they paid the bill together and headed towards the palace.
After arriving at the palace to report, they learned that Zhang Yangquan had gone to the Imperial Academy and was hosting the Luming Banquet.
The two had no choice but to wait outside.
During Chang Yuchun's attack on the Japanese state, Jiangdu's second imperial examination was also successfully held.
The number of scholars participating in the imperial examination was twice as high as last time.
This is not only because the territory of Jiangdu Army has expanded a lot, but also because the news of the imperial examination was released one month in advance, so some scholars who lived far away had time to come over.
Ye Zhen, recommended by Song Lian, also took part in the imperial examination, but only achieved seventh place.
Even Liu Bowen and Song Lian couldn't help but lament that if they took part in the imperial examination, they would probably not be among the top three.
The number one scholar in this imperial examination was named Zhu Sheng.
His experience was very similar to that of Li Shanchang. When he took part in the Yuanting Township Examination in the eighth year of Zhizheng Period, he was rejected and only got the title of Rural Tribute Jinshi.
However, he had better connections than Li Shan and got a civil position as a Confucian professor on Chizhou Road.
Later, Chizhou suffered from repeated military disasters, so he resigned and hid at home to write books.
After Chizhoulu returned to Jiangdu Army, he felt that Yuan Ting's strength was exhausted and his previous fame was useless.
I also heard that Jiangdu Prefecture was going to hold an imperial examination, so I came to take part. Unexpectedly, I won the first prize.
Zhu Sheng is proficient in arithmetic and policy theory, especially policy theory, and got full marks. It is precisely because of this that he won the first place in this subject.
Except for Zhu Sheng, the second place winner is named Li Zhongmu and the top pick is Sun Xian. They are all proficient in arithmetic.
Many scholars have a feeling that if they want to gain fame in Chu State in the future, they will have to study arithmetic.
After the Luming Banquet, Zhang Yangquan returned to the palace by carriage. As soon as he entered the study, Yang Sanqiang came forward to report that Liu Ju and Jia Lu were asking for an audience.
Zhang Yangquan waved his hand and said: "Let them come in, and call Jia Jiancheng over as well."
Yang Sanqiang agreed and stepped back.
Not long after, Jia Lu and Liu Ju followed Yang Sanqiang into the study.
They both went down to pay their respects.
Zhang Yangquan raised his hand and said with a smile: "You two don't have to be polite. Since you are here, you are no longer my enemy. Sit down and talk."
The two of them thanked each other and sat down on the chairs in front of the desk.
Zhang Yangquan glanced at the two of them and said with a smile: "I have heard about Mr. Jia for a long time, and today I finally meet him!"
Jia Lu said in a hoarse voice: "Jia Lu used to be a minister of the Yuan Dynasty. He had no choice but to go against the king. I hope the king Haihan will do it!"
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "Everyone is his own master, how can I blame you? Having said that, you can make General Liu become the guardian of the Japanese country. Even I am used as a sword by you. I admire you!"
Jia Lu hurriedly stood up and apologized: "In order to survive in a foreign land, the two of us had to use some extraordinary means. Please punish the king of Chu!"
Zhang Yangquan stretched out his hand and pressed it, saying: "I don't mean to blame you, just sit down."
Jia Lu agreed and sat back again.
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "I know a little bit about General Liu, but I don't know how Jia Gong ended up in Japan?"
Jia Lu did not dare to hide it, so he told the story of how he was ordered to go to Jiangnan, but ended up in Changshu by mistake due to the delay in news.
Zhang Yangquan nodded and said: "So that's it. I have a general understanding of your plan, but one thing I don't know is how did you convince Hou Daigo to be canonized?"
Liu Ju hesitated for a moment and whispered: "We used the artillery as a bargaining chip, and Emperor Go-Daigo agreed in order to get the artillery."
Zhang Yangquan's eyes lit up, he looked at Jia Lu and said, "I almost forgot, Jia Gong can also make artillery!"
Jia Lu whispered: "The old man's craftsmanship is far inferior to that of Jia Ban. I heard that your army has developed a new artillery. I guess it was made by Jia Ban, right?"
Just as Zhang Yangquan was about to speak, a personal guard came to report that Jia Ban had arrived.
"Please come in, Inspector!"
Before long, Jia Ban strode in, and was about to greet Zhang Yangquan when he suddenly caught a glimpse of Jia Lu. He was shocked and shouted: "Brother!"
Jia Lu's eyes heated up and he said with a smile: "We haven't seen each other for so many years. I didn't expect that we would meet again as brothers!"