There are many alleys in Beijing, and each alley has no name at first. But as the people living there become famous, or the market or shop they operate becomes more and more prosperous, they often have a conventional name.
For example, Li Ge Old Hutong was named after the day when Li Dongyang entered the cabinet in the eighth year of Hongzhi, and now that Li Dongyang has been promoted from the second assistant to the first assistant, this Li Ge Old Alley has naturally become the most popular place in the entire capital. This is just because
This can be seen from the scene of Li Dongyang's 60th birthday on this day.
However, Xu Xun, who came to celebrate his birthday today, was surrounded by a large group of people, and he seemed to be taking over the guests. It has been nearly a year since he became the count, but in the past, everyone was in power.
Knowing that the elders in the cabinet did not like this young and famous earl, there were only a few who dared to place bets at this time, but it was different now. Three or five officials who had been to the Xu Mansion surrounded him,
The officials in the hall rushed to explain to him, and some even cast their envious eyes on Zhang Cai behind Xu Xun, feeling jealous of his good fortune.
This person had been deeply supported by Ma Wensheng when he was the doctor of the literary selection department. Now, not long after Ma Wensheng was overthrown, he actually has a new nobleman to favor him!
"Lao Zunge is here!"
With a shout, Xu Xun, who was waving his folding fan, saw Li Dongyang walking slowly out of the hall. He nodded slightly to the surroundings, and many people immediately gave way. Within a few steps, he took the lead.
He smiled and bowed his hands, and then said: "Today is Yuan Fu's sixtieth birthday. I was in a hurry and couldn't congratulate you, so I only packed a few fruits. In addition, I just got a pair of Jingdezhen official kilns from the Chenghua period.
A pair of colorful vases, come to my door in person to congratulate you on your birthday, and ask for a glass of birthday wine!"
It was said that it had just been obtained recently, and others could not understand the meaning behind it, but Li Dongyang knew in his heart that it must be a gift from the palace. Seeing that Xu Xun dared to use such a thing to borrow flowers and offer it to Buddha, he was slightly stunned. He originally wanted to politely refuse, but the corners of Xu Xun's mouth could be seen
With a smile, he half-heartedly accepted it and invited Xu Xun to sit alone in the small flower hall. Although he said the day before yesterday that he would not celebrate his birthday, as soon as the gifts from the emperor arrived yesterday evening, the family hurriedly prepared them again.
, and invited several famous chefs to come home and prepared ten tables. However, now seeing the endless stream of guests, he couldn't help but feel arrogant. He was dealing with Xu Xun while planning to find someone to come.
After quietly giving some instructions, Xu Xun put down the tea cup in his hand.
"Yuanfu, I think your house is big, but there are so many birthday guests after hearing the news today that it may not be able to accommodate it in the end. So, before I came here, I had already made a reservation at the famous cake shop in the capital.
I have ordered three hundred birthday cakes and they will be delivered later. I know that Yuan Fu is honest and will not accept gifts when idlers come, so sending such a gift in return will not be in vain." He said.
Here, Xu Xun smiled again and said, "As for the pair of porcelain vases, they came from the inner treasury of the palace. The emperor originally wanted to give them to you yesterday. He couldn't stand my words, so he asked me to borrow flowers to offer to the Buddha."
Sent over."
Today, Liu Xie delivered his official speech and returned home, but he celebrated his birthday and spread the word. Some upright scientific officials, those who like to seek fame, or even those who have a grudge against him are very likely to make a fuss about this.
, if the pair of porcelain vases were added to the things Zhu Houzhao rewarded yesterday, Li Dongyang knew what kind of uproar it would be without even thinking about it. And if it was delivered through Xu Xun's hands, people would at most make a few mocking remarks about him.
"Uncle Pingbei has taken a lot of trouble."
"I can't talk about it. To be honest, I'm just afraid that Yuan Fu will also give up and leave, and then the trouble will be big." Xu Xun saw Li Dongyang's face stiffen, and he seemed to have not seen it, and closed it.
He raised his folding fan and said with a half-smile, "All the candidates recommended by the Ministry of Personnel, Criminal Affairs, Military, and Inspectorate have been sent up. The Emperor just selected them one by one last night, but he has not yet issued the documents to the Cabinet."
….
Li Dongyang has been an official for decades, and his temperament is not as radical and impulsive as Liu Jian and Xie Qian. Although he was suddenly heartbroken when he heard these words, he did not follow Xu Xun's tone and asked. Sure enough, the next moment, Xu Xun said it himself
It's open.
"Lin Han, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel in Nanjing, is the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhang Fuhuai, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment of Nanjing, is the censor of the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Yang Yiqing, the censor of the right capital and the general commander of Yansui and Shaanxi, Gansu, is the minister of the Ministry of War, and the left censor of the Ministry of Punishment is
The minister, Tu Xun, is the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. How does Yuan Fu feel about this approach?"
Li Dongyang passed his target on the list recommended by the court. Although he knew that Lin Han, Zhang Fuhua and others were already famous, and with Xu Xun's support, they had a great chance of winning, but now he really knew that everyone was like Xu Xun.
Despite Xun's calculations, he still felt deeply helpless. After a long time, he asked in a deep voice: "Unexpectedly, Uncle Pingbei could gain so much from your trip to Nanjing. Everyone who deliberately planned to send you out of Beijing all miscalculated. It's just that
However, Lin Heng, Zhang Jiexuan, and Zhang Jiexuan are both honorable men who are respected by scholars. If they dare not speak out after entering the capital, they may lose their reputation. If they dare to speak out, they may not be able to care about you as the recommender, so you are not afraid of shooting stones at them.
My own feet?"
"Of course I'm afraid." Xu Xun calmly spread his hands. Seeing that Li Dongyang seemed surprised by the answer, he said with a smile, "As soon as I came to the door today, some of the guests who originally came to celebrate Yuan Fu's birthday flocked to me and flattered me, and at home,
In just a few days, people almost crossed the threshold. Everyone knew that the direction of the wind had changed, so they flocked to me. This is human nature. If you discard these people for this reason, it would be short-sighted; but if you use them for this reason,
Man, that is stupid. In contrast, Mr. Yang dared to take on the important responsibility of asking Datong soldiers to assist me just when he was passing by Datong. Mr. Lin and Mr. Zhang once showed great support to me after the big case in Jinling.
Gentlemen with great talents, and they are in the same boat as me, so of course I should recommend them."
At this point, Xu Xun paused slightly, and then said calmly: "As for shooting yourself in the foot, let alone me. Throughout the ages, recommenders have been hurt by the people they recommend. There are many examples of this."
After all, is it possible that everyone will not recommend talents just because of this? Does Yuan Fu know what I said to Mr. Lin when I invited him to Beijing? Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. What is I, Xu Xun?
What kind of person would you invite him to come to Beijing to see? If he does something wrong, wouldn't it be better to rebuke him face to face than to gnash his teeth at me in Nanjing?"
"You are very confident." Li Dongyang simply felt that Xu Xun's self-confidence was a bit arrogant, but a series of previous facts proved that this young boy became the winner in the wrestling competition time and time again.
After all, the sentence was a little gentler, "Since you are so confident in Lin Hengda and others, why did you leave me alone when I and the other three cabinet ministers retired together?"
"Although Mr. Lin and others are good, they are not strong enough to join the cabinet. I have a grudge against Jiao Mengyang, how could it be possible to watch him win the position of first assistant in one fell swoop?" Xu Xun revealed this without hesitation.
, then he said with a smile, "Besides, I heard that Yuan Fu was the best at mediating in the cabinet in the past, and there will be countless people who will use this ability in the future."
This guy really dares to speak out!
Although Li Dongyang was angry at Xu Xun's words, even though Xu Xun had mentioned Jiao Fang's betrayal and he had no way of verifying it, he knew in his heart that this man of the same year could do such a double-dealing thing. Thinking of Ma Wensheng who retired from office sadly, he felt angry
When Liu Daxia became official, he finally took a deep breath.
"Do you want me to be He Xini's first assistant? Or does the Emperor want to keep me as He Xini's first assistant?"
"Yuan Fu's words are harsh and discordant, and time is wasted on useless things. When Yuan Fu returned from returning to his hometown to pay homage to his ancestors, he once wrote poems on the road lamenting the fact that bandits were dying of hunger while passing by. Now he is wasting his time on
Isn't this good for business?" At this point, Xu Xun stopped talking and simply stood up and said, "Instead of staring at the Eight Tigers in the palace, it is better to take care of the floods and droughts in the world and the rampant banditry among the people.
, the Tartars knocked the pass and plundered and harassed the people. I will say this and ask Yuan Fu to think about it.”….
Seeing Xu Xun cupping his hands and walking out, Li Dongyang suddenly said: "If Uncle Pingbei can watch the eight tigers in the palace and prevent him from tempting the emperor astray, even if he is called the chief minister of Xini, I, Li Dongyang, will
It’s so sweet.”
"Don't worry Yuanfu, I will do my best to do this!"
Xu Xun answered without looking back. It wasn't until he left the small flower hall that he breathed a sigh of relief. He secretly thought about whether Li Dongyang's words were just to ease his heart, or whether he meant them sincerely. Thinking about it.
It was hard to tell, so he simply didn't think about it. He unfolded his fan and fanned twice, then led the way to the main hall where the birthday banquet was held.
At that time, many guests had already arrived. Since the birthday cakes had been delivered, the unrelated guests could not bring birthday gifts, so they had to go back sadly. Most of the people present were Li Dongyang's fellow disciples from the same year. Xu Xun looked around and felt that it was dark.
, he actually didn’t know a few of them. It wasn’t until Zhang Cai waved to him that he happily walked over. However, he found that there were many acquaintances sitting with him, and he immediately nodded with a smile.
"Brother Bo'an, brother Yuanming, long time no see. Changgu is here too? Are you... Yan Weizhong?"
Although Zhang Cai is a fifth-rank official, he is currently at home claiming to be ill. Today he went out with Xu Xun and did not bother to pay attention to the old rules of arranging seats according to official positions. There were ten people at a table, so others had to follow his request and arrange for him to be with the king of the chamber.
Shouren, Zhan Ruoshui and other three Hanlin officials were sitting at the same table. At this time, Xu Xun came over and called everyone by their names. The other two people at the table couldn't help but look at each other. When they saw Xu Xun actually sat down next to Zhang Cai
When they came down, the two people who had just been whispering fell silent for a while.
Wang Shouren came to Li Dongyang's birthday banquet today because of his father's words. He felt a little depressed. When he saw Xu Xun coming over and greeting them lightly and even sitting down, he suddenly felt happy: "You sit here,
How should those at the head table deal with themselves?"
"Brother Bo'an is wrong. I won't join in. Everyone can only breathe a sigh of relief. Most of those people are in their seventies or eighties. Who would want me to be a grandson at my age and have rich people hanging around in front of me? Even
Do you have to be careful about what you say?" Xu Xun smiled slightly, beckoned a young boy from the Li family who was waiting at the banquet, and said that he would sit here, and then sent the person away without thinking, and then said with a smile, "As for
I don't recognize many of the people at the table, so what kind of longevity wine is that? I might as well go back and eat my own. I'm just going to sit here. Brother Bo'an, you don't want you to find another job!"
Before Wang Shouren could say anything, Zhan Ruoshui suddenly laughed: "The word "find another job" is really a perfect word - people who don't know, would think you are fighting for some kind of official position! Okay, okay, Uncle
An, please stop glaring at people, don’t look beyond our table, there are many people from all directions looking here, be careful to make a fool of yourself!”
Xu Xun was used to the situation of being watched by thousands of eyes, so he sat calmly. After a while, he asked the boy to bring more tea, but he went over Zhang Cai and told Xu Zhenqing, who was sitting next to him, about Tang Yin.
He asked Yan Song about the homework of Hanlin Shujishi, and asked Zhang Cai about the current situation of the imperial court. He also asked about the health of Chen Ruoshui, the mother of Zhan Ruoshui. He even smiled and asked the names of other people at the table one by one.
Wang Shouren ignored him with a sullen expression. Until finally he saw that this gentleman couldn't bear it anymore, and when the boy on the side brought another teapot, he stood up, took the teapot and walked forward.
"What on earth do you want to do?" Wang Shouren covered the mouth of the tea cup with one hand, with a look of helplessness and annoyance on his face. "I am congratulating Yuan Fu on my father's birthday today. If you have anything to say, just say it. I'm listening."
To this day, when Wang Shouren thinks of the time when he was coaxed to Xiyuan by Xu Xun in a few words, he feels sad and confused. He was finally able to show off what he had learned during those days, but it also brought him
Big trouble...
Especially when he finally returned to the Ministry of War after going around in circles, the life of dealing with documents all day long and not being taken seriously no matter what he said really sharpened his edges. At this moment, although he saw
Xu Xun's eyes were a little unkind, but he was a little curious in his heart about what words Xu Xun would say that were neither surprising nor fatal.
Holding the teapot in one hand, Xu Xun glanced at everyone at the table. Seeing that everyone seemed to be very interested in what he had to say, he smiled slightly, poured a cup of hot tea for Zhan Ruoshui next to Wang Shouren, and said meaningfully: "
There are too many people here. Brother Boan, do you really want to listen?"
Although he was more than twice as old as Xu Xun, Wang Shouren was afraid that when he was alone, he would be fooled by Xu Xun's few words. He immediately said with a sudden heart: "That's right, you can say it here!"
"Well, I won't be polite." After putting down the teapot, Xu Xun ignored the gradually quieting down atmosphere in the huge main hall and said with a smile, "Bao Guo Gong and Wu Dinghou proposed that the 12th Regiment Battalion now conducts large-scale training
It is not as good as before. Many of the soldiers are too old to be used. Moreover, the soldiers often do construction work without training. This is not the principle of military training. Therefore, the emperor intends to select elites from the 12 regiments and camps to build the King's Right Official Hall.
Chief of Staff, Brother Bo'an has a talent for military strategy before. Are you willing to serve as a civilian official and then serve as a supervisor?"
Xu Xun's voice was not loud, but countless ears on the left and right stood up. At this moment, it was spread from ten to ten, and all the guests in the main hall had heard about it. For a while, even the whispers disappeared.
, it was completely silent. Li Dongyang, who had just come in from the door, learned the whole story from the boy who reported it. He couldn't help being shocked and confused, and immediately looked towards this side of the room.
"you……"
Duke Baoguo Zhu Hui and Marquis Guo Liang of Wuding had committed serious crimes in the past and said that they could confiscate their homes and exterminate their families, but the emperor seemed to have forgotten and did not mention a word. Therefore, Xu Xun sent them to this trick, which was naturally easy. But Wang Shouren didn't know.
With all these twists and turns, Xu Xun's eyes were full of shock. In the past, even if he was a avant-garde of the training army, no matter how talented he was, he could only use it among the five hundred young troops whose ranks were unknown, but now Xu Xun
What Xun was talking about was the elite of the 12th regiment!
"Brother Bo'an, think about it slowly."
Naturally, Xu Xun would not force Wang Shouren to express his position now, and returned to his seat with a nod and a smile. At this time, Ziyou came forward and hunched over to carefully ask if he really didn't want to go to the head table. He waved his hand and dismissed the person.
As he left, he saw plates of various side dishes being placed on the table, so he picked up the tea cup and took a sip of hot tea.
"Your Excellency, you have really done a good job in managing the king's army!"
Hearing such a whisper from Zhang Caidi, Xu Xun glanced sideways at Wang Shouren and saw that Wang Shouren was really careless. He shrugged and said: "General, I really took a fancy to his full military strategy. Now that he has mentioned it,
Come out, it's up to him whether he agrees or not... Alas, it's easy to get a thousand armies but hard to find a general. The emperor always has the ambition to defeat the captives, but it's a pity that the people below him are not up to par..."
Although Xu Xun's voice was soft, Zhan Ruoshui, who was sitting next to him, heard it clearly. He almost passed it to Wang Shouren, and saw that the face of the head of the Ministry of War in his early thirties turned darker. And Yan Song next to Xu Zhenqing
Seeing this scene, he suddenly gently dropped his chopsticks, and then on the pretext of picking them up, he leaned over and snickered for a while, then straightened up. At this moment, a voice came from beside him.
"I'm sorry, I'm late. I was thinking about that birthday poem so much that my head was pounding, huh?"
When Xu Xun sat down, there were two empty seats at the table. Li Mengyang came straight to Wang Shouren, but when he arrived, he found that Xu Xun was also sitting at a seat far away from the head table. His eyes suddenly stared like
Like a copper bell. Kang Hai, who was following him, knew the trick quickly and quickly rushed Li Mengyang to sit next to Wang Shouren, and then sat next to Yan Song...
"Kong Tong was so crazy about his poetry there. Even though he was eager to be talented, his thirty-eight rhymes were no better than his usual quatrain verses, and it took him a lot of effort to write them." Kang Hai said and glared hard.
Li Mengyang glanced at him and saw that he turned away reluctantly. Then he looked at Xu Xun and smiled and said, "I didn't expect Uncle Pingbei to condescend to sit at this table."
"Since you are sitting here, let's ignore your official position and just talk about your age." Xu Xun nodded slightly to Kang Hai, and then said with great interest, "Since you said that Li Kongtong has wonderful and good articles, then I will listen attentively later.
"
Seeing that Kang Hai was joking freely with Xu Xun, Li Mengyang became even more depressed for a moment. Suddenly he found that Wang Shouren next to him was worried, so he couldn't help but raised his elbow, then frowned and whispered: "Why are you so stupid?
"
"Uh...it turns out to be Kong Tong." Only then did Wang Shouren realize that Li Mengyang was coming. After being stunned for a while, he whispered Xu Xun's proposal just now. Seeing that Li Mengyang was also shocked, he couldn't help himself.
He then smiled bitterly and said, "It's all my own fault. My long-cherished wish lies ahead... Now I'm really riding a tiger and it's hard to get off..."
Li Mengyang wanted to advise Wang Shouren to withstand the temptation, but he thought that if it were him in his place, he might not be able to withstand such a big temptation. Seeing that the wine cup in front of him was filled, he suddenly poured it into his mouth like a fierce man
I drank a large glass. At this moment, as the birthday wishes for Yuan Fushou were being encouraged, everyone at the tables stood up. The surroundings were busy for a while, and they were only paying attention to Li Dongyang, who had successfully climbed to the top of the civil service peak.
At the same time, the same number of eyes fell on Xu Xun's table.
At that time, Li Dongyang was known as a child prodigy in the capital when he was four years old. Emperor Jing summoned him twice and gave him many rewards. He was promoted to study in Shuntian Prefecture. He was a Jinshi at the age of eighteen. Even so, he did not enter the cabinet until he was fifty, which is rare among civil servants. Today
If Xu Xun had been a civil servant, no matter how talented he was, it would have taken decades for him to rise to the top. How could he have such a momentum like today, where he can wow everyone with just one word?
The sun that had hung high in the sky for more than ten years has set. Now this rising sun is clearly rising!
Not to mention others, even Li Dongyang was paying attention to Xu Xun, thinking about what Xu Xun had said to him before and his advice to Wang Shouren. He also lamented that the waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead, so among the many birthday wishes
After drinking several glasses of wine, he suddenly thought about his successor, which he had never thought about before.
Although he is only sixty, how many more years can he last in a court like this?
Therefore, when Li Mengyang stepped forward to present his birthday poem, Li Dongyang, who was already a little drunk, saw that everyone was passing on the good words of his proud disciple, but he had no intention of looking at those kind words. Only Xu Xun's high-spirited expression was in his eyes.
It seemed that even when Li Zhaofan, the heir next to him, read loudly the poem "Thirty-Eight Rhymes of Young Master Xi Ya Xianggong's Sixtieth Birthday" at the instigation of everyone, he was in a daze and almost didn't listen.
"The ten-year gathering of dragons and horses, the eternal gods of Song Gao, negative pictures of Zeng Yisheng, and anger arises again..."
The little emperor was clearly planning to pack up one of the most elite soldiers and horses and keep them firmly in his hands because of the previous changes in the Beijing camp and the 12th regiment camp! Since Xu Xun was able to invite Wang Shouren in public, he had naturally obtained the emperor's promise to be the general.
Soldier position.
"...···When I was drunk when I was talking about it, I was given precious treasures in the palace. My articles were excellent and my Taoism was pure and beautiful..."
If so, he must not be wishful thinking in expecting Xu Xun to compete with the eunuchs in the palace!
"…···Guiding his destiny and staying in Yuanbi, he is now an old minister of the emperor. He is still in charge of the country, and the public opinion is in the court..."
In this case, he will be nailed to the court no matter what. The late emperor is dying and he is the only one left!
"... The ancient meaning is the same, and it is cherished in the heart. I am willing to be a gold and stone to help the maze forever."
When Li Zhaofan finished reading the last sentence, the whole hall burst into applause. However, neither the face of Li Dongyang, who was the longevity star, nor the face of Li Mengyang, who had won the praise of the whole house with his poems, could not see much happiness. Instead, Xu Xun smiled and groaned.
He stood up. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he walked up to Li Dongyang holding a pot in one hand and a glass in the other. He filled it up for Li Dongyang with his own hands, and poured a small cup for himself. Then he put down the wine pot, held the cup in both hands and said: "I would like to express my gratitude to you.
This glass of wine is for Yuan Fu’s longevity!”
Seeing Xu Xun finish the drink in one gulp, Li Dongyang stood up and held the wine glass with both hands, but he drank slowly without saying anything. When he put down the wine glass, he saw Xu Xun nodded and left with a deep voice.
He said: "Uncle Pingbei, please stay here. Today is my birthday party, and I have a glass of wine to offer you!"
Following the same pattern, I gave Xu Xun a glass of wine, and he just said word for word: "Don't let down the holy hope!"
"That's natural!"
The old man and the young man looked at each other and drank it all in a moment.
Volume Five: Sharpening the Knife and Chasing the King is completed