When the political observation team stopped at the relay station bordering Liangzhou to rest, Kong Zhenrong, who was returning to his hometown for the first time since he entered the capital, found Yan Chiji, who was reading sages at night. He sat down and did not say anything. After a few years of polishing, Yan Chiji gradually lost the childishness of a foreigner entering the capital. Furthermore, he had a scholarly temperament. After the Yan family had a meteoric rise, this young scholar with a weak temperament had imperceptibly become more assertive. This made his father, who was the Grand Secretary of the Grand Hall, feel very gratified. Kong Zhenrong did not speak, and Yan Chiji did not take the initiative to speak either. There was only the sound of him flipping the book and the occasional sound of the lamp wick cracking in the room. In the end, it was Kong Wu Chi who could not hold it in and asked in a low muffled voice, "Yan Chiji, do you think Brother Feng will be angry and refuse to see us?"
Yan Chiji continued to read and seemed to be unsure. He said softly, "I don't think so."
Kong Zhenrong, who had just shaved his beard this morning, touched his stubble and sighed sadly. "You are lucky. You and Hanlin have been together with Brother Feng for a few more years. I ran to the capital a few years before you. The last time Brother Feng went to the capital, my father was muddle-headed and tricked me to go to the south of Jingji early. In the end, we did not meet. Yan Chiji, you read more books. Do you think Brother Feng will think I am not loyal? If I had known it would be such a depressing situation, I would not have gone to the capital with my father even if I had run away from home. "
Yan Chiji did not flip the book again. He stopped at the page in his hand and was silent.
Kong Zhenrong asked, "Why don't you go to the Ministry of Personnel or the Ministry of Rites? Why did you come to the Ministry of War? Didn't you hate war and bloodshed the most since you were young?"
Yan Chiji sighed. "It is because I hate it that I want to go to the Ministry of War."
Kong Zhenrong rolled his eyes. "You scholars have a lot of tricks up your sleeves. You don't say it directly. Others take off their pants to fart, but you wear your pants to shit."
Yan Chiji's eyes suddenly sharpened. He looked out of the window and whispered, "When you go back, tell Uncle Kong to stop writing to King Tang of Gangnam-do."
Seeing Kong Zhenrong's confused appearance, Yan Chiji almost squeezed out word by word. "Especially the matter of King Tang sending people to the capital to present the auspicious white deer. Tell your father not to get involved!"
Kong Zhenrong wondered, "Isn't this a good thing?"
Yan Chiji sneered, "You don't have to care about anything. You just need to tell your father that it was an unintentional remark I made after a family banquet. Your father knows the severity of the matter."
Kong Zhenrong, who used to be Yan Chiji's shield, looked at Yan Chiji's face and said softly, "Eating Chicken Yan, I don't think I know you."
Yan Chiji's originally tense face softened a little. He picked up the book on the table again and said almost to himself, "I didn't want to either."
The following trip to Liangzhou made the hearts of the officials, including Liang Zhenrong of the Department for Purging Officials, slowly relax. Not only did the local armies of Liangzhou open the gates for them, there was also a newly appointed lieutenant who personally escorted them to the outskirts of Liangzhou City. Although there was a hint of surveillance, at least on the surface, it gave enough face to the Ministry of War's political observation this time. Liang Zhenrong did not have a military background, but as an old official of Zhang Lu of the Ministry of War, his vision was not bad. He could tell that Beiliang's local army was strong, far superior to the capital and Ji Zhou. Naturally, he began to feel fear of the Xu family's 300,000 strong cavalry. He sighed with emotion. It turned out that Beiliang's light cavalry was already so majestic.
When the group of officials, who were looked at like monkeys by the people of Liangzhou, arrived at the gate of the King's mansion at the foot of Mount Qing Liang and saw the two stone lions that were as tall as two people, even the experienced and knowledgeable old men of the Ministry of War looked at each other and gasped. How majestic! Yan Chiji and Kong Zhenrong's expressions were complicated. Gao Tingshu snorted coldly, scaring Liang Zhenrong into coughing heavily, afraid that the people of Beiliang Palace would hear. In Liyang, there had always been a saying that the local officials were three feet lower than the officials of the capital. This meant that the prestige of the officials of the capital was naturally three ranks higher than that of the local officials. Now, there was no need to mention the officials of the Ministry of Personnel who were arrogant towards the officials of the capital. Although the Ministry of War, which had lost its backbone, was beginning to be overshadowed by the Ministry of Personnel led by the new "Heavenly Official" of Liyang, Yin Maochun, its prestige was still there. Liang Zhenrong was the chief official in charge of all the political plans in the world and a proud scholar. Therefore, when he led the way through the side gate of Beiliang Palace, he had the air of a capital official that swayed his sleeves as he walked. Even the steward of the King's mansion could not help but take a few more glances.
The King of Beiliang, Hsu Fengnian, did not appear from the beginning to the end. It was the deputy of Beiliang's Ministry of Economy, Song Dongming, who came out to greet the guests. He said that the King of Beiliang was in charge of military affairs at the border and could not leave. Liang Zhenrong and the other old foxes could not wait for the son of a butcher to ignore them. They said a bunch of flowery words that did not cost any money and praised the King of Beiliang for being so busy every day that he even had to go to the frontlines to guard the northwestern border for the imperial court. Song Dongming, the self-appointed deputy of Beiliang's Ministry of Economy, smiled and accepted everything on behalf of the King of Beiliang. It was probably because the deputy had the aura of a famous scholar from the Central Plains that made people feel like they were bathing in the spring breeze. Liang Zhenrong and the others immediately felt a lot better. They also felt that it was a pity that Song Dongming was a bright pearl covered in dust. If he went to the imperial court in the capital and stood side by side with the officials of the imperial court, that would be a sight to behold.
After Song Dongming held a welcoming dinner for the officials from the Ministry of War, unexpectedly he did not have any intention of fooling around. As soon as he put down the chopsticks on the table, he stood up and led everyone to his office on the mountainside of Mount Qing Liang to take a seat. He took the initiative to talk about the Northern Liang Dao military officers' appointment and the border army's promotion and change, including the sensitive and important military affairs. Observing politics from the Ministry of War was a bit like patrolling on behalf of the Heavens, but Liang Shihu dared to think this way when he went to Ji Zhou. How could he dare to be so arrogant in Northern Liang Dao? He had originally thought that they would be lucky if they could eat a few meals and drink a few pots of Green Ant Wine. He had even prepared himself to be ignored. The elders, including Liang Zhenrong, insisted on only listening and not speaking. However, Gao Tingshu was not so particular. He asked many times about the distribution of troops in Beiliang and the specific military affairs at the border. Song Dongming did not show any displeasure and always found some excuse to skip the questions. Liang Zhenrong was originally happy that Gao Tingshu was the first to stick his head out. If he could really find out the truth, it would be a great contribution. However, after the young manager kept asking, Song Dongming narrowed his eyes and lowered his head to drink his tea. Liang Zhenrong could no longer sit still. He glanced at the door in fear, afraid that if the deputy threw his cup, 500 executioners would rush out and push them to the ground, chop them up, and feed them to the dogs. Liang Zhenrong hurriedly tried to smooth things over. He said that he had heard that the scenery of the Tidehark Lake was the best in the world and wanted to bring his colleagues to see it for themselves. Song Dongming did not stand up this time. He only smiled and let his subordinates lead the officials to Tidehark Lake.
Song Dongming then went to the top of the mountain alone. He looked at Hsu Fengnian, who was travel-worn, and asked, "Since you're back, why don't you talk about the old days?"
Hsu Fengnian shook his head. He looked at Tidehark Lake and said, "Sir Song, come with me to the back of the mountain. Let's go together and engrave the 296 names on the tombstone."
Song Dongming nodded.
The deputy of the Administrator, who was walking with Hsu Fengnian to the back of the mountain, was obviously angry for a long time. Finally, he could not hold back his anger and said, "What a good saying! But what about the 296 people in Beiliang? "
Hsu Fengnian said calmly, "Beiliang will remember it."
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