After the banquet, the Emperor allowed the officials to tour the Golden Autumn Garden on their own. Thus, the civil and military officials spread out in groups of twos and threes. They seemed to be careless, but there were many things to pay attention to. For example, Qi Yanglong and Huan Wen, the two big shots of the court, walked side by side. Zhao Youling of the Hall of Governmental Affairs, who had resigned from the Ministry of Personnel, pulled five or six officials with him. The current Heavenly Official, Yin Maochun, chatted happily with the group of Hanlin Academy scholars. A few newly appointed scholars with shaky foundations naturally walked hand in hand. After the death of the blue-eyed girl, the six officials of the Shangshu Province, who had been leaderless, also had their own positions and did not stick together. Zhao Shixun, on the other hand, stuck together. The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War, Tang Tieshuang, walked with two great generals of the same generation as his benefactor, Gu Jiantang. One of them was the great general Zhao Cheng, who had not paid attention to worldly affairs for many years, and the other was Yang Shenxing, whose face had been covered in dirt for the past two years. On the other hand, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War, Lu Baijie, walked with the young officials from Jiangnan. The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Wen Taiyi, and the former General of Qingzhou, Hong Lingshu, who had recently been summoned to the capital, had just made it clear that they would not interact with each other for the rest of their lives. Today, they met again. It looked like they had buried the hatchet and were on good terms with each other. It was hard not to wonder if the Green Faction was going to make a comeback. As for the two Liao families in the North, led by the Peng and Liu families, the people in charge of the Great Peace City also stayed together.
Qi Yanglong and Huan Wen, these two old men, did not walk slowly. Their steps were large, so they walked further and further away from the group of officials behind them. The two old men came directly to a famous spot in the Golden Autumn Garden. It was the Spring God Mountain built from nearly 100 pieces of Spring God Lake Stone. Although the Spring God Lake Stone had long been loved and revered by some famous scholars of Jiangnan, it was only in the past five years that it had truly become popular and known to all levels of society. Piece by piece, the stone was continuously picked up from the bottom of the lake. Last year, it even "flew" into the royal family and became a mountain overnight in the Golden Autumn Garden, becoming famous under heaven. The Spring God Lake Stone was known to be thin and wrinkled. It was a high-quality Spring God Lake Stone was exquisite and had a natural aura. so it was said to be one jin of one or two taels of gold.
Huan Wen did not climb the mountain. Instead, he stood a few dozen steps away from the Spring God Lake Mountain and gazed at the short mountain that was said to be shrouded in mist, the sound of rain could be heard on rainy days, and the sound of conches could be heard in strong winds. Seeing that Tantanon had no intention of climbing the mountain, the head of the Secretariat, Qi Yanglong, smiled and accompanied Tantanon where he stood. The atmosphere in Liyang imperial court was very relaxed. Compared to the confrontation between Zhang and Gu, when Zhang Julu and Gu Jiantang, these two serious civil and military leaders, were present, the civil and military officials could be said to be trembling with fear of making mistakes. Now that it was the good-tempered Qi Yanglong and Huan Wen, everyone was much more relaxed. In addition, they had coincidentally met Zhao Zhuan, a young Emperor who had just ascended the throne and could not be considered to have accumulated great power. Therefore, the senior officials of Great Peace City liked to tease the younger generation that they were on good terms with. Compared to them, the old officials of Yonghui, they had met at a good time.
Tantanon, who had drunk a lot at the banquet, burped. He turned to Qi Yanglong and asked with a smile, "Head of the Secretariat, do you know the origin of my nickname, Huan Wen, Tantanon?"
Qi Yanglong smiled and shook his head.
Huan Wen laughed and said, "In the beginning, I wasn't called Tantanon. There was a guy who gave me the nickname of Wine Gourd. If I angered him, he would scold me as a wine bag and a good-for-nothing. The name Tantanon was something that happened much later. There was one time when I was on duty with that guy in the forbidden area. I couldn't control my mouth and secretly drank some wine. It just so happened that I was caught red-handed by the previous Emperor, who had been reading books all night. I drank too much and spoke without restraint. I told the previous Emperor that as long as I, Huan Wen, had wine in my stomach, I would be magnanimous. However, if there was a day when His Majesty did not give me wine to drink, I would be full of complaints. The previous Emperor was amused and immediately had the head eunuch, Han Shengxuan, bring over several jars of wine. At that time, there was a guy who had never touched wine who drank a cup for the first time. His face was as red as a monkey's butt. After I was drunk, I laughed at him and told him not to call himself Green Eyes, just Red Face. He replied, 'Shut your mouth and be a good Tantanon.' It was probably from that time onwards that I became the Tantanweng. Perhaps many officials felt that this nickname meant that I, Huan Wen, was a tumbler in Liyang's officialdom. No matter how turbulent the court was, I would always sway along with it, but in the end, I never fell. "
Qi Yanglong sighed and said, "Whether as a person or an official, Tantanon has never done anything that his heart could not get over. I'm not as good as Tantanon."
Huan Wen rolled his eyes and said, "Head of the Secretariat, your words are too much of a bootlicker. If it were someone else who said it, I would even think that they were scolding him."
Qi Yanglong smiled but did not say anything.
He was in charge of the Secretariat of the Liyang Dynasty, which had been neglected for many years. A few decades ago, the Zhao clan of the old Liyang Dynasty, which was located in the Northern Lands and was divided by the Vassal Towns, had bestowed the titles of Head of the Secretariat, Left and Right Servant Archers, and Shizhong to the Vassal Towns' military generals who were too powerful to get rid of and the valiant military officials who controlled the court to show their favor. They were all empty titles, just like the Great Pillar State and the Great Pillar State later. However, today was different from the past. The Secretariat of the Secretariat, which had lost a lot of power, became a veritable important place of the court again. Qi Yanglong also took the opportunity to become the next Grand Secretary after Zhang Julu. Some of the power that had been taken away by the Hanlin Academy long ago also returned to the Secretariat of the Secretariat. However, Qi Yanglong was well aware that as the Head of the Secretariat, who was summoned to the capital to "put out the fire", in the end, he was just a transitional prime minister. After helping Yin Maochun, Zhao Youling, and the others to ascend to the throne, he had to retreat unscathed. However, Huan Wen was different. Whether it was the former emperor or the current emperor, they all regarded this Tantanon, who had a good personal relationship with Zhang Julu, as a trustworthy teacher of the emperor. Qi Yanglong was very clear about the hubbub of Huan Wen's resignation this time. It was not that the young emperor was afraid of Huan Wen, but that Huan Wen himself had the intention to retire. That was why there was such a beautiful story that Huan Wen alone received three imperial inkstones.
Huan Wen said softly, "Young people should be busy. When they are busy, they can shake off the floating air. Old people should be idle. Only when they are idle can they enjoy the rest of their lives. "
Qi Yanglong shook his head and said in a low voice, "At this time, everyone in the court can be idle except for Tantanon. The Guangling Road, the Beiliang Road, and the Liangliao Road are all not peaceful. The court needs Tantanon to help make decisions. Many times and many things, even if Tantanon does not speak, as long as you sit there, even if you are dozing off, the hearts of the people in the court will not be in chaos. An old man in the family is like a treasure. This is exactly what Tantanon means. "
Huan Wen continued to look at the small mountain for a while, then slowly turned his head and smiled. "In terms of age and seniority, the Head of the Secretariat and my teacher are of the same generation …"
Qi Yanglong quickly waved his hand and said, "Don't give me that. Your teacher and I were famous for not getting along well in the past. As for the conflict between Confucianism and Legalism, the two of us could never come to an agreement. After I came to the capital, I was already very lucky that Tantanon did not make things difficult for the Imperial College and the Secretariat."
Huan Wen no longer used the Head of the Secretariat's respectful and unfamiliar title. He said sincerely, "Although Mr. Qi does not have the same political views as my teacher, my teacher admired your scholarly skills very much. In Huan Wen's opinion, the reason why people say that it is better to hide in plain clothes than to hide in official clothes is actually a hypocritical way of saying that either one has done enough as an official, or one can't be an official. It is far inferior to Mr. Qi, who can hide in plain clothes and help the world."
Qi Yanglong smiled. "Tantanon, oh Tantanon, it is one thing for us two old men to flatter each other here, but the problem is that no one is listening to us. How can we 'pass on' and leave our names in history?"
Speaking of this, Qi Yanglong said with a hint of sarcasm, "When I was young and studied history, when I first read about someone or something, I always felt that my blood was boiling or moved. Later, when I thought about it, I realized that it was an extreme case of fishing for fame. Their intentions are punishable."
Huan Wen laughed heartily. "Mr. Qi, you are right. I also had the same feeling when I was young."
Qi Yanglong sighed for no reason. "The writer of the past, the flipper of the future."
Huan Wen also sighed and suddenly asked, "Mr. Qi, have you never met that Hsu Fengnian?"
Qi Yanglong nodded. "That King of Beiliang has been to Shangyin Academy, but unfortunately, I have never met him."
Huan Wen laughed and said, "My teacher and the old King Liang have scolded each other many times. As a student, although I have only met the young King twice, the feeling is really not enough for outsiders to know."
Qi Yanglong said in a bad mood, "What's there to show off?"
Huan Wen smiled happily and hard, not hiding his mischievous meaning.
Huan Wen asked again, "Mr. Qi, do you know the two things I like to do the most since I became an official in the capital?"
Qi Yanglong replied, "I'd like to hear the details."
Tantanon narrowed his eyes. First, he raised his left arm and waved his sleeve. Then, he stretched out his right hand and gently tapped in the air with his index and middle fingers together. "Every day in the court, I watch civil and military officials come and go, dazzling and dazzling. I listen to the jade pendants on their waists tapping, tinkling, tinkling, crisp and pleasant to the ear. I'll never get tired of watching and listening. "
Qi Yanglong laughed and said, "I didn't feel it before, but I have to pay attention to it in the future."
Huan Wen raised his head, not looking at the mountain, but at the higher sky. "Heaven and earth are like a big jade plate. Large and small beads fall into it, crackling and shattering. They all die."
Qi Yanglong closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly, as if listening attentively. He murmured, "Yes, the most brilliant bead in the world in the northwest is finally about to shatter. You and me, and those yellow and purple High Lords behind us, are the culprits. "
Huan Wen laughed and said, "We are the scholars who are ashamed of the classics."
Qi Yanglong still closed his eyes and laughed softly. "It turns out that the real scholars don't read books."
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