One hundred and fifty second chapter merits and demerits
July 29, the first year of Xianheng year in the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an.
After several days of running, Li Xian finally returned to the capital. It was completely different from the previous situation where there would be a grand welcome ceremony every time he returned. This time, no officials or clan members came to greet him outside the city. Li Xian and his subordinates
Two hundred people came to the city gate in such a deserted manner.
What's even more annoying is that when Li Xian came to the city gate, the soldiers guarding the gate asked him for a fish charm as if they didn't recognize him.
Gao Sheji who was accompanying Li Xian was immediately furious when he heard this. He jumped off his horse and was about to teach the blind guard, but Li Xian stopped him: "She Ji, stop! This brother also acted according to the regulations.
No fault."
Then Li Xian took out the fish charm, handed it to Gao Sheji and said, "Let this brother check it."
Seeing Li Xian's behavior, Gao Sheji did not dare to disobey him. He responded respectfully, then took the fish charm and handed it to the gatekeeper.
The guard carefully examined the fish talisman and suddenly asked: "May I ask if your Majesty is the King of Zhou?"
Gao Sheji snorted coldly after hearing this, and was about to speak when Li Xian suddenly said coldly: "Isn't there one above? Why talk so much?"
It turns out that Li Xian was also dissatisfied with the gate guard, because every time he went in and out of the city gate, which gate guard was not respectful and did not dare to make a sound? Now that he has won the battle for the country, he has been treated like a defeated battle.
Not only did the princes and ministers say anything, but even a small city gate guard was so arrogant when he saw him. How could he not be angry in his heart?
Li Xian originally thought that he would be ridiculed further, but what happened next was something he never expected. The guard quickly knelt down and said respectfully: "The little man worships the king. The little man has no eyesight.
I bumped into the king and asked him to punish me severely. No matter whether I killed him or chopped him into pieces, the villain had no complaints. Just now I saw the king's appearance, and he was vaguely the king. However, the king's face was full of dust, which was quite different from when he left the city, so
The villain is not sure. In fact, to be honest with the king, since I heard the news that the king is returning to the court, the villain and his brothers have taken turns on duty, hoping to know the news of the king's arrival as soon as possible. Now it happens that the villain is on duty.
At that time, I will definitely make those brothers envious."
Immediately afterwards, Nama Jing stood up and shouted loudly behind him: "Brothers, King Zhou is back. Come out to see him quickly."
Only a few voices could be heard coming from inside the city gate: "Ma Jing, this black guy of yours is trying to trick people again. Tell me, how many times have you used this trick in just the past two days? If you continue to lie about military information, I'll believe it."
If you don’t believe me, I’ll beat you up.”
But Ma Jing said loudly: "Really, who is lying to you? Why don't you wait until now to come out and take a look? If you lie to you, I will pay for tonight's drink."
"Really?" As those voices came, a dozen figures were seen rushing out from behind the city gate, and then the dozen figures were seen surrounding Li Xian and others. After carefully identifying them for a moment, they immediately cheered.
He said: "Sure enough, the King of Zhou is back. I am here to see the King."
"Brothers, please excuse me." Li Xian was suddenly flattered by the welcome he received from these city guards. He quickly came to Ma Jing, helped him up, and then said apologetically: "Young man just now.
The king is very rude to the strong man, so please don't be offended."
"Hey, your Majesty said this, but it is a shame for the villain. Your Majesty has fought hard for several months and killed countless Tibetan bandits to ensure peace in our country and for the people to live and work in peace and contentment. This villain did not welcome me well. I really deserve to be reprimanded by your Majesty.
"
Ma Jing smiled and then lined up with all the gatekeepers to welcome Li Xian and his soldiers into the city.
Seeing the sincere respect from these sergeants for him, Li Xian's depression suddenly eased a lot, and he said silently: "Everything I have done for the country and the people, even if the princes and ministers don't remember it, there are always people who remember it."
, in this case, why should I care whether I work hard or not? Anyway, having too much credit is a burden. In this case, I will let them handle it, hey, only the poisonous snakes hiding in the dark are the most deadly."
And when Li Xian entered the city gate, the scene in front of him was even more unforgettable, and he even burst into tears involuntarily, because all the people stopped what they were doing and surrounded Li Xian and his warriors.
He cheered loudly with an expression that was close to admiration: "Long live King Zhou, long live King Zhou." ("Long live" at that time was just a high-level cheering phrase, and it was two different things from "Long live the Lord" that specifically referred to the emperor in later generations.
)
Immediately afterwards, many people came forward and presented gifts to Li Xian, including eggs, vegetables, fruits and other items. Li Xian declined with a smile, but the people did not give him any face, put down the gifts and ran away.
In a short time, all kinds of gifts had piled up into a small mountain.
Looking at these "gifts" in front of him, Li Xian smiled bitterly and shook his head. After some thought, he decided to pack them into large trucks and donate them to people who were living in poverty due to drought.
After these "gifts" were processed, Li Xianfang returned to the mansion.
Although he had no relatives in the mansion, everyone was loyal to him and eager for his return, including Li Xian's maids Chunyan and Qiufang, his two wet nurses Qianshi and Gaoshi, and his personal eunuch Gao Cheng
et al.
"Your Majesty, you are finally back. You have been tired from fighting these days and have made great contributions to the court. The people in the whole city are praising you. Some compare you to a military god like General Xue. Yi Nu said
Yeah, General Xue has no record of killing 200,000 enemies at one time. Those who can compare with your military exploits like you, my king, are only Bai Qi, the God of Killing, Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Chu, and Zhou Yu who burned Red Cliff in history.
But, alas, it is a pity that the villains in the court are in power and do not want the king to perform meritorious service. They persuade your majesty to issue an order to negotiate peace with Tubo. Especially the Duke of Zhou is the worst person. He actually wants to ask the king for guilt. Fortunately, Xianggong Dai and others have guaranteed to your majesty.
, The Holy One is not blaming..."
After the eunuch Gao Cheng met Li Xian, he kept chattering until Chunyan and Qiu Fang urged Li Xian to take a bath.
In order not to cause trouble for Li Xian, Gao Cheng realized that he had said the wrong thing. He knelt down and wanted to slap himself, but Li Xian gently held him back, and then said softly: "Gao Cheng, it doesn't have to be like this, what about me?"
I wonder how loyal you are to me? Get up quickly and tell me what interesting things are going on in the palace now."
Although Gao Cheng seemed to be very honest, he secretly made friends with many people in the palace and was very well-informed about the news in the palace. It was precisely because of this that Li Xian asked such a question.
But I heard Gao Cheng say: "There is nothing interesting in the palace these days. What everyone is talking about the most is actually one thing, and that is the king's affairs. It is said that it revolves around how to deal with the king. The princes and ministers who came to court this morning They all started arguing."
"Oh? Let's hear it." Li Xian ignored the maid Chunyan's wink at Gao Chengpin, and suddenly became interested and said with a smile.
Although Gao Cheng knew that he shouldn't spoil his master's mood at this time, he also thought that it would be better for his master to know some things in advance so that he could respond when the time comes. Even if he didn't, it would be good to be mentally prepared in advance. .
Therefore, Gao Cheng opened his mouth and said: "Actually, what happened this morning is very simple. It mainly revolved around the killing of prisoners by the king and General Xue. It is said that Yuan Gongyu, a member of the Xitai family, reported to the saint in the court hall that the king and General Xue killed the prisoners. General Xue was good at killing prisoners, which made the Tang Dynasty lose its trust to foreign countries and was not good for the country. Therefore, he wrote to the Holy One, hoping that the King and General Xue would be punished by the Holy One as a thank you to the world. However, the imperial censor Du Gong and Dongtai Minister, However, Hao Xianggong, the third rank of East and West Taiwan, Pei Gong, Chang Bo of Division Lieutenant, the Minister of West Taiwan, Dao Guogong, Prince Zuo Zhonghu Daigong and others were opposed. Alas, these people are worthy of being the pillars of the country and loyal and upright ministers. , they said that the king had made contributions to the country, and although he committed the murder of prisoners, he should not be held accountable. Dai Xianggong and others said that the contributions made by the king could be offset. Even so, the king's merits and demerits would at most be offset. How could it be done? Being punished for this?"
"Haha, it seems that although Dai Zhide and other members of the East Palace Party oppose my mother and monopolize power, they do not want to make me stronger, so as not to threaten the prince's prestige, so they want to find a balance. Well, this is what the prince should do. This guy’s original appearance, but this guy has always been good at pretending, and now he uses this to win people’s hearts, it’s really unbearable. Hehe, when I can’t bear it anymore, I don’t need to bear it anymore. Prince, you are trying to use it. I came to check and balance my mother, but I didn’t know that quietly, your disaster has come quietly, so don’t blame me for not reminding you, brother."
Li Xian sneered slightly after listening to Gao Cheng's words. He had already made some calculations in his heart, but then he heard Gao Cheng continue to say: "Originally, even the queen would nod at Duke Dai's words, but there was something in the court. Someone stepped forward to stop him, saying that it was unfair to the king and General Xue, and asked the emperor to reward the king heavily. This person was Du Gong, the imperial censor in the palace. Du Gong argued hard, and even the emperor nodded, but he didn't know why. In the end, We still decided to balance the merits and demerits, but according to speculation, it seems that the Holy Spirit finally made up his mind because he listened to the words of a Taoist."
"Whose name is that Taoist? You actually have such trust from the Holy Emperor and the Queen!" Li Xian suddenly heard that a Taoist priest was obstructing him. He was shocked and asked quickly.
I only heard Gao Cheng say: "It is said that the Taoist priest's name is Ming Chongyan. He is deeply trusted by the Holy Emperor and the Queen. It is said that he is a man of great Taoism and has lived for thousands of years."
"It's actually him? Hey, I didn't expect that he would come anyway. Fortunately, this person did not pose much of a threat to me in history. Instead, he is a trouble for sixth brother Li Xian, so I don't have to pay attention to it."
When Li Xian thought of this, he suddenly thought of something else. Thinking of Gao Cheng, he asked, "Who is the surname of Du Gong, the imperial censor in the palace, who you mentioned? He is quite protective of me. Wait until there is someone."
If I get the chance, I will definitely visit this person."
But he heard Gao Cheng chuckle and say: "This Du Gong is no one else. Your Majesty, you should still remember Du Shenyan, the crazy student who fought with your Majesty in poetry back then, right? This person who tried his best to protect your Majesty was the one who did the most.
People.” (To be continued.) This chapter has been completed!