Among the officials who came to the second floor, there are only three rooms that are special. One is the room where the three organizers, Yan Shu, Fan Zhongyan, and Han Qi, are sitting together. These three are eating at this time.
And according to the rules, they also rejected everyone who came to their room and wanted to toast. The reason was very simple and clear. They were about to enter the inquiry process, and they didn't want to be unfairly said by others. So, just now, Yan Shu and
After Fan Zhongyan finished his speech, the banquet officially began. The three of them returned to the room and closed the door. A man dressed as a royal was left at the door to help guard the door.
This second room is Cao You's room. Although Cao You actually just returned to the court in terms of time, the name of his father Cao Guojiu is known to everyone. Look.
There are still some people who want to curry favor with Cao Yi in terms of Cao Yi's reputation. What's more, among the people who came to the party today, there are more or less officials from the Cao family or the Han family. Cao You is the same as those three.
The organizer was different. The door to the room was open. However, when these people entered the room, they found that the room was empty. Not only that, the dishes on the table were not touched. This made the officials who came to toast
They were a little confused. They clearly saw that Cao You had arrived in the building just now. Why did he disappear now? At this time, Cao You was sitting on the first floor chatting with Lu Yao. Because the location was relatively remote, if you were not careful,
They couldn't even see it. In addition, the officials on this floor started to move around now, so the scene was quite noisy and chaotic. For a while, they really couldn't notice the remote corner. There was no way, they couldn't find anyone, so they just
I could only return in despair.
The last special third room was Han Wenyuan's room. After the night banquet started, Han Wenyuan returned to the room and directly locked the door, just to prevent anyone from coming to him to make friends and chat.
On their own side, they also symbolically started to eat. Although there were occasional knocks on the door, when they saw the door lock post, those officials thought that Han Wen was talking to some important official far away, and they did not dare to eavesdrop.
Because they felt that Han Wenyuan came here with orders from Han Yonghe, and they knew Han Yonghe's dealing style very well, so it was better not to eavesdrop on the conversation at this time. Unexpectedly, this
The first move was given to Han Wenyuan by Han Yonghe. He knew that his son was actually not very good at socializing, so he would definitely be tired of dealing with these visitors. It would be better if Lu Yao was present, but
Once Lu Yao doesn't agree to go with Han Wenyuan, he can only use this strategy to prevent others from coming to him. Han Wenyuan can come out as soon as the questioning session begins.
This trick really worked. Han Wenyuan could eat in peace without worrying about others coming to see him. He just had to wait for the inquiry session.
Cao You had discovered Han Wenyuan's move when he went downstairs, and he also told Lu Yao about it. Lu Yao felt that given Han Wenyuan's current situation, it was more correct for him to take this action.
At least you can avoid saying the wrong thing.
The two of them were chatting like this. After about a quarter of an hour, everyone present was seventy-four percent full. At this time, the guys in the Fan Building started to go out and add three more dishes to all the tables.
dish, and removed the empty plate from before.
Lu Yao's table was no exception. A waiter came to the table and helped them change the dishes. However, the waiter seemed to want to say something to the three people opposite Lu Yao, but when he looked up he saw Lu Yao.
Yao and Cao You sat here, immediately changed the dishes and left.
Lu Yao took a look and saw that the newly served dishes included a dessert and two cold dishes. They were both dishes that were helpful for digestion. In modern terms, they were considered desserts after meals. Thinking of this, Lu Yao also admired Pan Yuanwu.
, this kind of detail is really thoughtfully considered. At least after this night banquet, Fan Lou should leave a good impression on all the officials present, and they will definitely patronize Fan Lou in the future.
However, unlike Lu Yao who focused on the dishes, Cao You paid more attention to the guys who were changing the dishes. Cao You found that for two or three tables, for some reason, there was an accident when changing the dishes, and some plates fell.
The situation happened, and Cao You also saw some clues from the waiter's attitude. As for the other tables where no accident happened, Cao You found that after changing the dishes, these waiters would stay at that table.
A while ago, it seemed that he was chatting with the officials. Although they only chatted for three to five minutes, this is Fan Tower, and the clerks in Fan Tower should be well-trained. This Pan Yuanwu really allowed the clerks to talk to him on weekdays.
Does this happen when officials chat?
The waiter who just changed the dishes for his table seemed to want to say a few words, but after seeing him and Lu Yao, he left immediately.
So, Cao You told Lu Yao what he was thinking. Originally, Lu Yao came to attend the banquet today and didn't want to use so much thinking, so he didn't observe too carefully. However, after Cao You's reminder
, Lu Yao also observed for a while, and then said: "You are right, these guys seem to be different from when I came to Fanlou many times before, and I don't know any of them."
Cao You nodded and said, "Sure enough, it seems that the emperor really cares about this gathering. He even sent people dressed as gangsters to trick these officials."
Lu Yao raised his head and saw a waiter guarding the door of the room where Fan Zhongyan was on the second floor, and said: "These three organizers should also know about the waiter. Let me tell you, His Majesty's behavior is actually understandable.
In the question-and-answer session, in order not to make mistakes, everyone will inevitably say some official words and clichés when answering, which have no practical meaning. Compared with answering in a formal setting, now the clerk is allowed to just talk nonsense out of curiosity.
With this sentence, we might be able to find out what these officials are thinking deep down, and use this to judge their true attitudes and thoughts."
"You're right," Cao You said, "Especially the first-level officials, they all feel that their talents are underappreciated, and facing a clerk, what they say is harmless, so they lower their guard and face such an identity.
People like this are able to speak out their thoughts, but they don't know that behind these people is the emperor, who is recording their every word and deed."
Lu Yao smiled and said: "Yes, you see, the number of guys on the second floor is obviously smaller. Obviously, His Majesty knows that this trick is not easy to use against the scheming senior officials on the second floor, so he will be more
Many targets are placed on officials at this level."
Cao You recalled the scene just now and said, "Do you remember, the guy who came to change the dishes for us just now, I think he probably wanted to say something to those three people, but when he looked up and saw us, he knew
The two of us must have guessed what he was here for, so in the end out of fear, he left without saying anything."
Lu Yao thought about it and found it interesting.
At this time, the waiter's voice came from the door of Han Wenyuan's room. The waiter expressed that he wanted to change the dishes for him. Han Wenyuan always remembered his father's teachings and said that he was full and did not need to change the dishes.
So he agreed and left.
As for Fan Zhongyan, the waiter guarding the door saw everyone taking action, so he knocked on the door and entered the private room, telling Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, and Han Qi that he had already started taking action.
Fan Zhongyan and the other three looked at each other, then stood up and left the table, returning to the aisle. Naturally, they came out to see what kind of state these people were in when they were questioned by the waiter.
Not defensive.
Yan Shu took a quick look here and couldn't help but be disappointed. The officials at this level did not have any suspicion about these guys. On the contrary, they all seemed to be having a pleasant conversation with each other, which made Yan Shu feel that his inquiry for a while
Isn't this part unnecessary? It's enough to just record what these people are saying.
Han Qi, on the other hand, had some admiration for these royal people. The people selected by His Majesty are indeed very powerful. If they didn't often come to Fanlou to eat and find them strange, ordinary people would not be able to find out that they are actually from the royal family.
At this time, Han Qi started chatting with the guy who was guarding the door. There is no doubt that this person is actually the leader of all these royal people disguised as guys. Han Qi said that each of these guys is doing
There were quite a few officials talking to him. Can they ensure that they accurately recorded each official's attitude and thoughts on the affairs between Song and Xia? The clerk looked directly into Han Qi's eyes, indicating that they could definitely remember it.
Unlike Yan Shu and Han Qi, Fan Zhongyan's eyes were focused on the few people he paid attention to, that is, the few people he wanted to ask. At first, Fan Zhongyan also felt a little disappointed. He thought they were still among the most powerful people in the court.
The officials with some abilities still failed to recognize the disguises of these guys and started chatting with them. Until Fan Zhongyan looked at the corner of the first floor, where Lu Yao was sitting at the dining table.
He first saw Cao You. At this time, Cao You was sitting next to Lu Yao, chatting with Lu Yao. However, Fan Zhongyan looked carefully and did not find any waiters near the dining table. Could it be because of the location?
It's so remote that you forgot to send someone there?
So Fan Zhongyan called the leader to ask about the situation. The leader said that he naturally sent someone to the dining table, but with just a look, Cao You and Lu Yao had already discovered it. If he continued to ask
No useful information would be obtained, so in order to avoid causing trouble, the guy didn't stay any longer.
Just as he said this, Fan Zhongyan looked at Lu Yao again. This time, Lu Yao also raised his eyes, and their eyes met. Fan Zhongyan saw that Lu Yao seemed to be nodding towards him and smiled.
Fan Zhongyan couldn't help but laugh. He turned around and said to Yan Shu and Han Qi: "It seems that among the officials on this level, only Lu Yao recognized the disguised identities of these guys."
When Yan Shu heard this, he also looked at Lu Yao and said, "It may be because Cao You is with him. I have long felt that Cao You is not a simple guy. The two of them want to join forces and found out that this guy
Isn’t the trick in this a piece of cake?”
Han Qi, who was on the side, still didn't want to admit Lu Yao's ability. He snorted coldly and said, "Don't take Lu Yao too seriously. Let me tell you, it's because he feels that these guys don't have the ability to do anything.
You will only become suspicious if you have seen them. Don’t forget, he is the one who created Fan Lou’s recipes, and he often comes here to eat, so there is no problem in recognizing these guys."
Yan Shu nodded and said, "Yes, what you said makes sense. No matter what the reason is, he already knows the situation now, so we can't get any information from him."
Fan Zhongyan sighed and said: "Yes, now it seems that we can only wait for the inquiry session for a while."
According to the agreed time, the royal staff disguised as a clerk had only a quarter of an hour to talk. The fifteen minutes passed quickly. After obtaining this information, the leading clerk, who had been guarding
The people at the door of Fan Zhongyan's room on the second floor also left Fan Tower as soon as they got the information and returned to the palace to report to the emperor. As for the other waiters, they returned to the kitchen and continued to observe.
Now more than forty minutes have passed since we started eating. After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Fan Zhongyan and the other three saw that everyone had almost eaten, so they unanimously decided that it was time to move on to the next step.
.
The officials present are all well-fed and well-fed, but they will never forget that the purpose of today's gathering is not only to see Fan Zhongyan off, but also to ask them some questions. Therefore,
Seeing Fan Zhongyan and others reappearing in everyone's sight, everyone cheered up.
Han Wenyuan heard the footsteps and knew that Fan Zhongyan had taken action. He finally reopened the door while others were not paying attention. Cao You and Lu Yao were also very interested.
He looked at Fan Zhongyan, waiting for him to continue speaking.
The person who spoke was naturally Fan Zhongyan. Although the biggest organizer of the official position was Yan Shu, after all, this gathering was convened in the name of Fan Zhongyan. And Fan Zhongyan also felt in his heart that whether it was for inquiries or to really see him off, he didn't know what to do next.
When will it be the first time that I see a scene like this where hundreds of officials gather to compliment me?
Fan Zhongyan took a deep breath and said, "Fan Lou's dishes are indeed well-deserved. I wonder how everyone eats them."
The officials on the first floor all expressed that it was very delicious. Fan Zhongyan said with a smile: "I think everyone ate well, so next, Mr. Fan has a gracious invitation. Everyone present knows that tomorrow, I will make it
Mr. Han Qi and I went to the border of Song and Xia to negotiate with the people who claimed to be the Kingdom of Daxia. Mr. Fan is not talented. Although His Majesty now trusts me very much, I am actually quite uneasy about this mission.
I don’t know how to negotiate when facing the other party. Moreover, I have been thinking hard about the relationship between the two forces of Song and Xia for a long time. I don’t know what kind of attitude I should use when talking to the other party. So,
Here, today I hope that everyone can do me a favor and give me some suggestions."
Perhaps in the eyes of others, Fan Zhongyan's words were a bit modest. Now everyone knows that Fan Zhongyan has great power, and even Yan Shu's actual power is not greater than that of Fan Zhongyan. But Fan Zhongyan knows very well that although he went there this time
The Song-Xia border had been planned with Han Qi before, but if it was said that the negotiation could be 100% guaranteed to be successful, Fan Zhongyan was not sure. What's more, if something happened ahead, Fan Zhongyan would definitely
He was trapped in a place of no return. Therefore, it can be said that what he said was half sincere.
Hearing Fan Zhongyan say this, the officials present were very quiet and silent. No one dared to speak actively. When it came to ideas and suggestions, everyone felt that what they said would definitely not be as good as Fan Zhongyan's own plan, and some people felt that
, they speak softly, and are even more afraid of saying the wrong thing. No one dares to speak out at this time. But what they don't know is that their attitude and countermeasures they accidentally said just now have already reached the emperor's ears.
Fan Zhongyan and the other three people had already thought about the crowd's reaction, so Fan Zhongyan decided to make the selection first. He said: "I think everyone is very humble. If no one takes the initiative to say it, then I will ask first."
Okay, Mr. Li, do you have any good ideas for this anti-Xiong mission?"
After Fan Zhongyan said this, he looked at a certain official on the first floor. The man stood up and then spoke impassionedly.
Lu Yao in the corner heard the general idea. This Lord Li is the main war party, and his position is very firm. He feels that he cannot agree to the Great Xia country's request for independence no matter what, and must annihilate it to show the power of the Song Dynasty. He already knows the war.
As a result, Lu Yao smiled bitterly in his heart and said that if it weren't for the peace talks, Xixia might have annexed part of the Song Dynasty's territory through this war. He was really too optimistic about the war.
However, Mr. Li's remarks actually aroused the excitement among the people present from the main war faction.
After hearing what he said, Cao You on the side said: "Master Fan Zhongyan is still very good at judging the situation. This Master Li, his character and thoughts, I think Master Fan Zhongyan must have known it for a long time. He knew that if he asked this person,
It will fully arouse the emotions of the people present at the main fighting party, and it can set the tone of this night banquet from the beginning."
Lu Yao said: "Moreover, he was the first to ask Mr. Li, and he secretly expressed some of his own views, which means that Mr. Fan is actually on the side of the main war faction."
Cao You nodded and said: "However, the thoughts of other people will not be easily changed because of his speech. Even if they know what Lord Fan Zhongyan thinks, they may not change their innermost thoughts.
.”
Lu Yao agreed very much with Cao You's statement. Ancient people's thoughts and ideas were very independent, and once formed, they would not be easily changed. This is also an important quality that modern people lack.
Sure enough, after Mr. Li, who was named by Fan Zhongyan, spoke, Han Qi then asked another official about his thoughts, and this official was on the second floor, which meant that he should be a relatively powerful person in the DPRK.
Official. Then, Cao You introduced to Lu Yao that he was Zhang Feng, the deputy privy envoy of the fourth rank of Zhongzheng. Although the fourth rank may not be high in rank, the official position of deputy privy envoy can be said to be
It is very critical. Fan Zhongyan has also held this position before. Once the war starts, Zhang Feng must go to the front line.
It seemed that Han Qi also trusted Zhang Feng very much and was the first to ask him what he thought.
However, Zhang Feng's speech surprised Han Qi.
Zhang Feng said: "Master Han, please forgive me for speaking frankly. I cannot agree with what Master Li just said. I believe that if this negotiation does not achieve the desired results, once a war breaks out between Song and Xia, with our current military strength,
In fact, we have to be at a disadvantage. So, my idea is that we should solve the problem more through peace talks."
Later, Zhang Feng listed a bunch of things he knew about the comparison of military strength between Song and Xia, as well as the current situation of the armies of both sides. It can be seen that Zhang Feng has done a very thorough research on what might happen to the Song Dynasty after the war begins, and the reasoning is very clear.
Lu Yao felt that although what he said was somewhat exaggerated, most of what he said was true. In terms of the most basic physical fitness and strength of the soldiers, the Song Dynasty was indeed no match for the warlike and fanatical Daxia army.
However, after the main militant group had just finished their impassioned words, Zhang Feng's speech was tantamount to pouring cold water on the atmosphere of the entire venue. However, if you think about it carefully, what Zhang Feng said makes sense. However, how did Han Qi
Neither of them expected that the Deputy Privy Councilor whom they trusted so much would actually stand on the opposite side of him and say such words.
But on the surface, Han Qi could not rebuke Zhang Feng. Later, Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, and Han Qi began to ask other officials present their thoughts. Because of Zhang Feng's statement, some undecided officials also stood up.
The two sides advocate peace. So now, judging from the scene, the war faction and the peace faction can be said to be evenly divided. This result was not even expected by Fan Zhongyan and the other three.
Then, Fan Zhongyan looked aside and said, "I wonder, what does Mr. Han think about this issue?"
Lu Yao saw that the person being questioned by Fan Zhongyan was the confused Han Wenyuan.
