【Chapter 798】
The drizzling spring rain falls, sometimes quiet, sometimes graceful, sometimes enthusiastic, sometimes fierce, extremely fickle and elusive.
Starting from the evening of the third day after the decisive battle in Loudiyuan, the first rain since the beginning of spring came uninvited and quietly landed on the Xiliang territory.
This rain came a little suddenly, without any warning before. After the sunset, the stars and moonlight did not come, but the tender spring rain like willow catkins.
To say it is sudden, it is inevitable.
The spring rain leaves people sadly, and this silent rain seems to have come to see off the fallen soldiers in Loudi.
The night comes quietly, as light as willow catkins, as delicate as hair, gentle and passionate, soothing hundreds of thousands of undead spirits, nourishing this hot land, dispersing the bloody and murderous aura condensed in the air, brushing away the devastated body and blood, putting on this land with new clothes, and changing its color.
This unexpected rain began to fall on the third night after the war, and then lasted for several days. Although it was gentle most of the time, there was also heavy rain. Just like a crying and laughing little girl, sometimes innocent and romantic, sometimes having a little temper, which makes people unable to figure out. What can I do?
Hangu Pass, the head of the general, and the inner hall of the central army commander's tent.
"????????Snive into the night with the wind, moistening things silently. What a happy rain on the spring night!"
Standing by the window, looking at the gentle breeze outside the window, Li Lixin muttered to herself with a touch of thought, and a poem that suited the times and the scene couldn't help but blurt out.
"Lord, Mr. Youruo is here and is waiting for the order of the lord to be sent by the lord." With the sound of light footsteps, Li Zhi suddenly appeared behind Li Li and reported the report softly.
"Well, Xun Chen is here. Let him come in." Li Li put away his thoughts and nodded slightly. After Li Zhi took the order and left, he waved his hand to signal the personal soldiers to set up the banquet, and then all retreated.
"Bangbangbangbang!"
Following Li Zhi quickly to the inner hall, Xun Chen looked solemn, and his pair of eyelids beat from time to time, showing his inner excitement and fear. He never dreamed that the "new lord" Li Li would actually entertain himself alone. Moreover, the place where the banquet was actually the inner hall. This inner hall of the general tent was not something that ordinary people could come in. There were only a few people in the entire Xiliang army who had such honors. One was the left military advisor Jia Xu, the second was the right military advisor Guo Jia, the third was the Bingzhou governor Lu Su, and the remaining were Huan Fei, Gao Shun, Zhang Liao and Dian Wei, and there were no more than ten people.
Therefore, when Xun Chen learned that his lord Li Li invited him to the banquet alone, this surprised him, and he felt both glad and frightened. It was really a surprise and mixed joy.
Outside the inner hall, Li Zhi raised his hand and signaled Xun Chen to go in by himself, and then stood outside the door. Xun Chen was slightly stunned when he saw this. He nodded immediately to express his gratitude and walked into the inner hall in stairs. When he approached Li Li, he bowed his head and bowed and bowed: "My minister Xun Chen pays homage to the lord."
Li Li smiled and nodded: "Why should friends be more polite? Take your seat quickly. This table of banquet has been ready for a long time. Wait for friends to come. Hahaha!"
"I am so frightened that I thank you for giving you a seat." Xun Chen bowed and sat down. He looked quite nervous, lowered his head and did not dare to look at Li Li. He held his cuffs tightly with his hands, and no longer had the usual style of a strategist, and seemed to be very afraid of Li Li.
"If you don't have to be restrained, I'll invite you to drink and have tea today, not military and political affairs. Therefore, if you don't have to be restrained, you don't have to be too much. You can speak freely and have no mistakes."
While speaking, Li Li poured a cup of wine for Xun Chen with his own hands, nodded with a smile, "Do you agree with me?"
"Yes, yes, yes, what the lord said is very true." Xun Chen nodded quickly, leaned forward slightly, held the wine cup with his hands, and after he finished speaking, he covered his face with his sleeves and drank it all in one go. This is what is called "drying first" as a respect. How can a subordinate of a minister refuse the fine wine given by the Lord? Even if he can't drink it, he has to pinch his nose and drink it.
At the same time, Xun Chen had an extremely obvious change, which was that he called himself a humble minister in front of Li Li, and he regarded Li Li as a king. The reason why he had such a big change was Guo Jia's repeated persuasion. Before this, Guo Jia told him that Li Li is now conquering the emperor for all directions, which is equivalent to patrolling the emperor for hunting. Wherever he goes, he is like the emperor coming in person, so that the civil and military officials under his command should perform the courtesy of his ministers.
Xun Chen did not take Guo Jia's words seriously at first, and even disagreed with them, thinking that Li Li could not wait to become king. However, after Li Li mercilessly ordered the burial of more than 3,000 seriously injured soldiers alive, Xun Chen personally felt the other side of his new lord Li Li, who was iron-blooded, cold and domineering, and was far less sunny than on the surface.
"This is the real hero in troubled times!" After witnessing Li Li's ruthless military order, Xun Chen came to this conclusion.
From that moment on, Xun Chen made up his mind to do his best to assist Li Li in achieving hegemony, and the first thing he had to do was to win Li Li's appreciation and trust; otherwise, there would be no way to talk about it. Unexpectedly, when he was thinking about how to make Li Li look at him differently, he unexpectedly received an invitation from Li Li and invited him to the banquet alone.
It is precisely because Xun Chen is very eager to get Li Li's appreciation that he seems at a loss and becomes more nervous when the opportunity comes. It is also the feeling at this moment that makes Xun Chen clearly realize that he is so afraid of Li Li. He always calls him Li Thief whenever he mentions Li Li's name, but he doesn't know that this is clearly self-deception, but in fact it is a manifestation of timidity and fear.
As time passes quietly.
Before he knew it, the banquet lasted for half an hour, while Xun Chen drank more than twenty cups in a row, but he was just a little drunk.
It is not difficult to see from this that the scribes of this era have a lot of alcohol. Many scribes can drink while talking and drinking, and can stay up all night. It is worth mentioning that only the middle and upper classes can afford to drink wine in this era. It is impossible for ordinary people to drink alcohol without restraint because they cannot afford it. In addition, the current alcohol content is very low, usually around 20 to 30 degrees, with a soft taste, mellow and refreshing taste. It is not easy to get intoxicated at first, but it has a great potential.
Seeing Xun Chen's cheeks flushed and his words and deeds were no longer restrained. His tense mind completely relaxed, Li Li nodded and smiled. After a while, after Xun Chen had enough wine and meals, he waved his hand to signal his personal soldiers to withdraw the banquet and replace it with steaming hot tea. This is what Li Li just said about drinking and drinking tea. After drinking, the next step is to eat tea.
"If my friend was in my service on the day, he should have held a banquet to entertain the teacher, but the military and political affairs during the war were heavy and had to be delayed until now. Therefore, I would like to invite the husband to the banquet tonight to compensate for the past, and I would like to ask him to understand more." As if he had just drunk alcohol, Li Li still poured the first cup of tea for Xun Chen himself, and smiled while giving the tea.
Xun Chen hurriedly thanked him, took a sip of tea, slowly put down the teacup, opened his mouth to say something but was scruples. He wanted to speak but stopped.
"If you don't hesitate, you might as well say something. There are no outsiders here, only you and my ministers, so there is no need to worry about it." Li Li smiled after seeing this.
"Thank you lord for forgiveness." After saying thank you, Xun Chen's expression couldn't help but soothe. As if he had taken a pill of peace of mind, he finally made up his mind. Then, he said respectfully: "In the past few days, our soldiers returned to the pass, and many border guards and county magistrates were ordered to come to Hangu Pass. Seeing this situation, it seemed that the lord summoned civil and military officials to discuss important matters. In this regard, the minister was quite puzzled. Why did the lord decide on the political affairs of Hangu Pass, rather than the Chang'an General's Mansion, or the court?"
"Oh?" Li Li pondered in surprise: "Just just after the war, we have summoned the generals to discuss military affairs, and we also need to reward the soldiers of the entire army. Otherwise, my lord will be thrust the backbone of the soldiers? As for Chang'an, the battle is about to end, and the soldiers are exhausted, so we don't have to worry about returning to Chang'an as soon as possible. What's more, it is extremely complicated to return to Chang'an, just a celebration banquet, and it takes at least half a month, and the journey takes time, which is not good for the war. Therefore, I temporarily decided to carry out the military and political affairs and rewards together, and drink happily in Hangu Pass for three days, and return to Chang'an in ten days. Do you think this is wrong?"
Xun Chen shook his head slightly and said respectfully: "The lord's arrangement is very appropriate and there is nothing wrong with it. However, our army gathered in Hangu Pass again, which undoubtedly made all the princes of the Central Plains who had just been defeated, and mistakenly thought that the lord wanted to take advantage of the victory to lead the Central Plains. In this way, it would be equivalent to forcing them to actively prepare for war, and it is possible to join forces to resist our army again. Therefore, I feel that the Hangu discussion is not appropriate, and the civil and military officials in the two prefectures of Yongliang do not need to come. I wonder what the lord's idea is?"
Li Li nodded slightly: "This is naturally. The generals who were ordered to come to discuss the matter this time are all civil and military officials in Sili and Sanfu territory, and everyone else stayed there. If the implications of the friend seem to be familiar with the situation in the Central Plains, what good strategies do you have to say it right?"
Xun Chen smiled humbly and said softly: "Just a little rough idea, I dare not claim to be a good plan. Since the lord asked, the empress should report it all. As for the current situation in the Central Plains, the empress's response strategy is only seventeen words: "Show it to be good, unite and unite, drive away the tiger and swallow the wolf, and fight to determine the Central Plains!"
The so-called showing goodness is the strategy adopted by the lord of the present, which is to throw out the land of Henan and Luoyang, and to serve as a buffer zone between our army and the princes of the Central Plains, indicating that our army has no intention of leading the Central Plains. Then, we can implement the second step of joining the lords and joining the lords and sending eloquent people to lobby the surrounding princes to form an alliance with our Xiliang army. Perhaps some princes will definitely not form an alliance with our army, but they dare not make things difficult for the envoys and lobbyists sent by the lord. Even though most of the princes have concerns about our army, they dare not openly become enemies with our army. In this way, the strategy of joining the lord can be achieved.
The third step is to drive away the tiger and swallow the wolf. There are more than ten princes in the world, and our Xiliang army cannot completely rely on its own efforts to eliminate all the princes one by one. We must take advantage of the conflicts between the princes to kill each other, thereby quickly weakening the strength and number of the princes. Among them, our army can support our "allies". With just a little encouragement and promotion, we can prompt them to attack and kill each other. When the princes of the Central Plains fight, the lord can advance eastward and sank the Central Plains states in one fell swoop; this is a battle to determine the Central Plains. The details and specific implementation of the details will be reported in detail in the future.
This is the foolish opinion of the empress, and I wonder what the lord wants to do?”
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PS: [Thank you: Thank you for sending mooncakes!]
Although he did not leave a nickname, Hu Ben still wanted to say: "Thank you!"
These two days, it happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, but Hu Ben caught a cold, which was quite serious. He caused his wife and children to not go out to play, and the whole holiday was ruined. Hu Ben was quite guilty of this, but his health was incompetent.
I felt a little depressed and suddenly found the mooncakes given by my book friend. This feeling is indescribable. Thank you, my friend, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
Chapter completed!