To be honest, before this, Zheng Tai had never imagined that Dong Chong would become like this.
Once upon a time, Dong Zhong was very dissatisfied with Liu Bei's taking over the power. He felt that he was also a member of the imperial family and should share power with Liu Bei on an equal footing. He could not say who was the subordinate of whom or who would give orders.
So they succeeded in persuading Dong Zhong.
But today, Dong Chong seems to have been tamed by Liu Bei. He has almost completely become a prisoner of pleasure. He has become obese and looks decadent and has lost his ambition.
Is this the hussar general Dong Chong who was unwilling to surrender?
"General Dong, what are you..."
Zheng Tai looked at Dong Zhong speechlessly, with an expression full of disbelief.
Dong Zhong raised his eyes and saw Zheng Tai standing in front of him, showing a crazy smile.
"Is Mr. Zheng here? Please take a seat. Someone is here to entertain the distinguished guests."
He shouted loudly, and then continued to caress the bodies of the two beautiful concubines as if no one else was watching, constantly enjoying their tender and smooth skin, and chewing the fried chicken legs they handed to his mouth.
Zheng Tai wanted to speak several times, but was interrupted by the whispers of Dong Chong and his two concubines, leaving Zheng Tai confused whether he could speak or not.
Fortunately, the entanglement only lasted a few minutes. Soon, two servants came to Zheng Tai and handed over a plate of fragrant fried chicken legs that had just been cooked and a pot of peach wine.
"Liu Bei is not a good person, but the things he makes are really good. He made this fried chicken leg. It is said that he used it as a luxury treat for his subordinates in Liangzhou in the early days. He only gave it during the holidays.
Will take it out to entertain guests.
And this peach wine is also produced in Liangzhou. After Liu Bei arrived in Liangzhou, there were really more and more good things in Liangzhou. Mr. Zheng, this peach wine is not an ordinary peach wine, it is the whole
One bottle of Liangzhou’s best quality Jiuquan peach wine is worth ten bottles of ordinary peach wine!”
With a proud look on his face, Dong Chong introduced the extravagant things in his house to Zheng Tai.
Zheng Tai looked at the fragrant fried chicken legs and peach wine in front of him, and suddenly looked depressed.
He raised his head and looked at Dong Chong.
"General Dong, I'm here to discuss something important with General Dong."
Dong Chong smiled.
"No rush, no rush, eat and drink first, then discuss. No matter how important it is, we have to eat and drink enough before we can discuss it, right?"
Then Dong Zhong no longer looked at Zheng Tai, but continued to do things with the two concubines on his own. The two concubines were also quite open, understanding Dong Zhong's thoughts, and seemed to have noticed something about Dong Zhong.
I have some bad thoughts, so I am not so restrained in my voice.
In front of Zheng Tai, the three of them got into a ball, which made Zheng Tai, who regarded himself as a gentle man, very uncomfortable, but he couldn't say anything.
He is here to ask for help and cooperation. If he shirks his face and refuses to give him any face, how can we continue to talk about this matter?
He could only lower his head and ignore Dong Chong's greasy behavior, and focus on the food. He didn't eat before coming here, and now he was hungry, so it would be good to eat something.
So he picked up a fried chicken leg with chopsticks, and when he took a bite, it was crispy and fragrant. The strong aroma of oil and meat were intertwined, and a strong sense of satisfaction emerged spontaneously.
Well, Liu Bei is indeed not a good person, he can even be regarded as a super bad guy, a deep-thinking villain, but the things he created are really good.
This fried chicken leg is fragrant and crispy. It is said that high-quality wheat is finely ground into flour, and then the marinated chicken is wrapped in this flour, and finally fried in a pan.
Not only does it require a large pot of oil, the chicken needs to be treated with relatively expensive spices, but it also needs to be fried in an iron pot that Liu Bei made.
It is said that it is more fragrant when fried this way and is less likely to cause accidents.
Because it requires a lot of materials and some skills, it is also the top item on the palace menu that Liu Bei presented to the Empress Dowager Dong, so it is worth a lot of money and has become a kind of food for the rich and powerful.
There is currently nothing on the market, even a very famous restaurant does not have this menu. Everything is a very good and related supporting facilities that can only be found in the homes of rich and powerful people. Only the top rich and powerful can make and enjoy it at home.
Nowadays, all the families in the capital that are a little bit proud of serving fried chicken legs are proud to serve their guests at banquets. If anyone has fried chicken legs on their banquet menu, they will be more proud.
As the nephew of Empress Dowager Dong, Dong Zhong naturally has no shortage of channels to obtain these things and production methods, as well as the cost of making them. Looking at his shiny face, he must be eating them every day and every month.
, can you eat so richly.
But it’s not that Zheng Tai can’t understand.
This stuff smells so good.
Because the fried chicken drumsticks were so fragrant, Zheng Tai ate three in a row before stopping for a moment. He felt a little tired, so he poured a glass of peach wine and drank it all in one gulp.
Well, it's mellow, delicious, and full of flavor. It's much better than the peach wine he usually drinks.
If he guessed correctly, this should be the top quality Liangzhou rose wine - Jiuquan rose wine.
It is said that after Liu Bei took control of Liangzhou, he resumed agricultural production and also resumed the production of sycamore wine, and divided different sycamore wines into grades according to the different production areas, the quality of the sycamores and the brewing process.
Four of the ten counties in Liangzhou produce rose wine, among which the rose wine produced in Jiuquan County is the best.
Jiuquan peach wine is considered to be the best peach wine because of the best quality of peach fruits, the best brewing technology and the longest production cycle. It is generally only supplied to the royal family, important relatives and important heroes, and belongs to the royal family.
Special products.
After the royal special supply is over, they will be sold, and most of the products sold are wrapped up by Liu Bei himself and given to relatives, friends and close associates. They are not commodities, but a kind of human relationship.
comminicate.
Only what is left after Liu Bei takes it away will be sold, and only in the shops in Luoyang City that sell Liangzhou fine salt.
However, its price is so high that it is far beyond the reach of ordinary wealthy households. It is also difficult for some middle- and high-level officials with insufficient levels to enjoy it. More importantly, even those with money cannot buy it.
So if anyone can get a bottle of Jiuquan Rose Peach Wine, it would be a very honorable thing.
With Zheng Tai's status, and because his relationship with Liu Bei is relatively subtle, the number of times he can get some drinks from Liu Bei is very few.
Most of the time, Zheng Tai could only drink the second-rate Zhangye Peach Wine and the even lower-level Dunhuang Peach Wine. By comparison, Jiuquan Peach Wine was indeed the best among the best.
This Dong Zhong is very lucky. He drinks the best peach wine, eats the most expensive palace dishes, wears the most gorgeous Shu brocade clothes, is fat and strong, and enjoys the best. On this day, he, the head of the Yue family,
I'm all a little envious.
But then again, with so much wealth and so much enjoyment, can you still have the determination to compete with Liu Bei?
Zheng Tai looked up at the fat man who was using his greasy hands to move up and down the beautiful concubine's body. In addition to envy and jealousy, there was also a trace of worry.
He was really worried that this guy had completely indulged in luxury and no longer had any ambition to fight against Liu Bei.
In that case, what should we do?
Finally, Dong Chong had enough to eat and drink, and his hands were satisfied, so he sent his two concubines to wait in the room, and finally looked at Zheng Tai.
"Can these crude things still attract Mr. Zheng's eyes?"
"Rough... General Dong's arrogance is the envy of Zheng, the leader of the clan!"
Zheng Tai smiled bitterly and said: "General Dong, when Zheng comes to visit this time, he really has something very important to discuss with General Dong. I hope General Dong will listen to what Zheng has to say."
Dong Chong poured a glass of peach wine and drank it all in one gulp.
"Hehehehe please say."
"It's about Liu Bei."
Zheng Tai looked at Dong Zhong's somewhat changed expression and said slowly: "Has General Dong heard about the things Liu Bei has done in the court in recent months? Not only the government affairs meeting and the elimination of officials, but also his recent
We need to promote the so-called military region system and the stationing of troops in local areas."
Dong Chong put down his wine glass and nodded.
"I have heard about it a little bit, but I don't know much about it. Dong doesn't care about these things very much. Just let it happen. For us, it doesn't mean anything else."
Zheng Tai sighed and told Dong Chong about Liu Bei's true colors in front of him and Jia Xi. He also told Dong Chong about his and Jia Xi's guesses about Liu Bei's plans.
"We all thought Liu Bei was a humble man, but we never expected that he was actually a deep-hidden hypocrite, full of tyranny and lust for power. As long as we let his plan be completed, there would be no chance for us to stand up.
At that time, everyone will be a swordsman and I will be a fish, and Liu can do whatever he wants, but I am afraid that we will end up in a miserable way, but I don’t know if we will follow the footsteps of the Yuan family, the He family, and the Jinwen school. What does General Dong think?"
Zheng Tai looked at Dong Zhong expectantly, hoping to see a trace of unwillingness on his oily face.
But he was disappointed, he saw nothing.
Of course, it is also possible that Dong Zhong is too fat and the expression on his face is not so easy to see.
Zheng Tai just looked at Dong Chong and shook his head.
"I don't think so."
"General Dong, you..."
Zheng Tai said in surprise: "Don't you think that Liu Bei's overwhelming power is a huge threat to us? I remember that the relationship between you and Liu Bei was not friendly at the beginning. If he completely gains power, don't you worry?
Did he do something to you?"
"What's the use of worrying?"
Dong Zhong shook his head and said: "Before, I was very worried, very worried, so I joined forces with you, but it was useless. Liu Bei is invulnerable, and the most important thing is that the Empress Dowager has a very good opinion of him. The Empress Dowager does not care about him at all.
Allow me to do anything to him.
Without the support of the Empress Dowager, I am alone and there is nothing I can do against him. This was just a few years ago. You also said that now, he has 250,000 troops. Luoyang is no longer enough for him to garrison, so he put
The army was dispersed and he became stronger than before."
"Although the strong are strong, they also have weaknesses. There is no one without weaknesses."
Zheng Tai said unwillingly: "Otherwise, we will just sit back and wait for death!"
"But the weak are weaker and have more weaknesses."
Dong Zhong shook his head and said: "Liu Bei may have only one weakness, and this weakness is well protected by him, but we have more than ten or even dozens of weaknesses, all in Liu Bei's eyes. As long as he stretches out his hand, we will
It’s so overwhelming, what else can I do?”
"There is always a way."
Zheng Tai said anxiously: "If we don't do anything, we just sit back and wait for death, and we will inevitably be defeated. If we do something, there may be a glimmer of hope. General, you have something that others don't have. This will be an important basis for your victory!"
"Mr. Zheng, do you mean the palace guards and the officers and soldiers of the city gate captain under my command?"
Dong Chong shook his head and said slowly: "You guys, you only know one, but not the other. You guys only know that I command these two groups, but do you know where the expenses for the palace guards and city gate captains come from?
of?"
Zheng Tai nodded.
"Of course we know that the palace guards and the officers and soldiers of the city gate captains are all allocated by the treasury, and the treasury is under the jurisdiction of Da Sinong. It is the money approved by Da Sinong that is used for the city gate captains and palace guards. Moreover, Da Sinong is not
Your confidant?"
"But all the people under the command of the Great Sinong are from the Young Mansion, and they are all Liu Bei's people. My Great Sinong was sidelined a few years ago. Now he is just putting on a show and ordering the meal on time every day."
Dong Zhong said helplessly: "When he suddenly ascended to a high position, he had no talent and could not support the great chief agricultural officer, so he borrowed some people from the Shaofu to support him. Unexpectedly, the great chief agricultural officer became someone else's chief agricultural officer.
It's no longer under my control.
In the end, the city gate captain and the palace guards basically all paid their expenses from Liu Bei. The money was given by Liu Bei, and Liu Bei also gave rewards during festivals. Liu Bei's people also liked it. My subordinates didn't know.
Now are you loyal to me or to Liu Bei..."
Zheng Tai was stunned when he heard this.
Only then did he realize that he thought he had overestimated Liu Bei's power, but he might have been a little more conservative.
Liu Bei's power may be greater than he imagined.
Some powers that did not originally belong to him may also be under his control, and these powers are exactly what Zheng Tai needs.
"Is this...is this reasonable? Why don't you explain this to the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty? You said that Liu Bei deliberately usurped power, and you have evil intentions! Your subordinates and power have been usurped by Liu Bei. This
It’s very dangerous!”
"I told you, it's useless."
Dong Chong waved his hand: "I don't know why the Empress Dowager trusts Liu Bei so much. Anyway, the Empress Dowager has never taken care of this matter. Oh, by the way, I heard that Liu Bei sends many rare and exotic objects to the palace every quarter.
, the Empress Dowager cannot live without Liu Bei at all now."
"this……"
Zheng Tai opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but when it reached his throat, nothing came out.
What's the matter!
Is money really that everything?
Is Liu Bei's ability really so invincible?
Can even the Empress Dowager be bribed?
Can even power be bought?
Zheng Tai couldn't understand it.
Moreover, he didn't know what kind of precise and ingenious operations Liu Bei used to become so rich.
But the fact is that Liu Bei has power and money, and now he is invincible.
Dong Zhong seemed to be lying down.
"So, now that we have reached this point, Mr. Zheng, do you think it still makes sense for us to do this?"
Dong Chong sighed and said with a smile: "It's better not to think so much. Just give up what you should give up. You should eat and drink when you should. I also have a lot of money and women. Isn't this life quite happy? Mr. Zheng, you
What do you think?"
Seeing Dong Zhong lying on his back with a broken face, Zheng Taina became furious.
"General Dong doesn't think about the family, I have to think about the family! I think about future generations! We also have a contribution to everything today. How can all the good things be taken away by Liu Bei alone? Who does he think he is? Xiaowu
Emperor!?"
Dong Chong had no reaction to this.
"In this case, I won't say anything else. If Mr. Zheng has any ideas, please find someone else. Now I just want to live a good life. I don't think about anything else."
After saying that, Dong Zhong stood up with great effort, took a few breaths, and walked towards the inner hall without looking back, leaving Zheng Tai alone in the hall, which was very messy.
However, Zheng Tai did not see the gloomy expression on Dong Chong's face after he turned his back.