Chinese dining table

Chapter 1207 Twelve Hours in Luoyang (3)

In fact, the court had to employ people for a certain number of years.

Some people have to use it for a while.

Some people need it for a year or two.

A person who can be used for five years is a great talent.

The one who needs to be employed for ten years is a key and important official.

It will take more than 20 years. Unless he has a terminal illness that kills him or he is determined to resign, he will generally not have a good ending.

Emperor Li Zhi has trusted Xue Rengui for twenty years.

In the past twenty years, the emperor has entrusted his life to him several times, and he has performed well every time.

Now, it is time for Xue Rengui to fall seriously ill or resign.

Many people thought that Xue Rengui was a rare golden beam in the Tang Dynasty army. In fact, it was not the case. It was very disadvantageous for the court for one person to command the Tang Dynasty's troops for a long time.

Li Zhi worked hard to deprive Duke Ying Li Ji of his power, and patiently waited for Duke Ying to die. Of course, he did not want a new Duke Ying Li Ji to appear in the Tang army.

Replacing Xue Rengui would not be a good thing for the army, and it might even lead to defeat in foreign wars.

This is not important to the court; the replacement of military generals is a big deal.

The advantage of Yun Chu lies in his irreplaceability!
Today's Tang Dynasty society has developed far beyond all previous dynasties. When there is nothing more to learn from in history books, many of Yun Chu's practices are often refreshing. In addition, Yun Chu has no intention of interfering with military power, so the emperor's tolerance for Yun Chu is obviously much higher than Xue Rengui's.

It's just an undefended Chang'an City. Keeping it as a human being will do more good than harm.

The moment Xue Rengui stood up from the giant bear and looked at him, he immediately realized that his days as a military leader were numbered.

Moreover, he even understood who the next generation of military generals the emperor valued.

"Your Majesty, I have become increasingly unable to lead troops in battle in recent years."

This was the first time Xue Rengui used the word "old minister" in front of the emperor.

Li Zhi's heart trembled slightly, and he followed Xue Rengui's words and asked, "Is the old injury flaring up?"

Xue Rengui replied with a pale face: "That's right."

Li Zhi angrily said, "What are the people in the Imperial Hospital doing? They can't even heal your old wounds. What use are they to me?"

Xue Rengui shook his head and said, "It is said that medicine cannot cure fatal diseases. I have too many old wounds on my body, just like a torn bag. The people in the Imperial Hospital have done their best to patch it up over the years. Now, it is beyond repair. You can't blame them."

Li Zhi sighed and said, "Apart from you, my dear minister, who else can I trust in the army?"

Xue Rengui looked at the emperor helplessly and said, "I think Fengzhou Sima Tang Xiujing can be of great use."

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "I am not yet in a position to take charge of the overall situation."

Xue Rengui smiled and said, "I am just suggesting this. It is up to your Majesty to decide whether to use it or not."

Li Zhi just shook his head, as if he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Ruichun personally brought some wine and food, and Li Zhi and Xue Rengui sat opposite each other on the high platform, drinking and chatting.

Mainly, the emperor listened to Xue Rengui telling him about his life experiences. The emperor would just express his admiration at some key points, or raise his glass to have a drink with Xue Rengui.

It seems that the king and his subjects get along very well.

The sounds of explosions and rising flames in Luoyang City became louder and louder, until after a loud bang, when some broken bricks and tiles fell on the Yun courtyard, Wu Mei ordered to stop the banquet.

The banquet stopped, but no guest was willing to leave the Yun residence at this time.

Wu Mei left the house and came to the courtyard where no one wanted to come. She stroked a twisted pine bonsai tree. She seemed to enjoy the feeling of the pine needles pricking her hands.

Li Si followed closely behind with a lance in his hand.

"Do you think your brother will kill me?" Wu Mei took her hand away from the pine needles and asked softly.

"No!" Li Si answered firmly.

Wu Mei nodded and asked again: "Do you think the Queen Mother will kill your brother, the Crown Prince?"

"No!" Li Si continued to answer with great certainty.

Wu Mei smiled and continued to say to Li Si: "Since we mother and son will not fight each other, then what does the current situation in Luoyang matter?"

Li Si said: "It's just a game."

Wu Mei sighed and said, "Yes, it is indeed a game, but this game is a little too cruel."

Li Si said: "Not cruel at all."

Wu Mei turned around and looked at Li Sidao: "Why do you say that?"

Li Si smiled and said, "Master told me a long time ago that dying for one's ideals is one of the happiest ways to die. Maybe they die with a lot of reluctance and regret, but isn't that the most beautiful thing about it?
People in the world love wealth and glory, and pursue eternal nobility. Everyone wants to stand on the top of a mountain and look down on the world. However, the higher the mountain, the cramped the top is, and only a few people can stand there. If you want to stand there, you need others to make room for you.

Isn't it normal for them to pay a price or even die for these noble positions?"

Wu Mei smiled when she heard this and asked Li Si, "Why did Yun retreat so suddenly?"

Li Si smiled and said, "Master thinks that the place on the top of the mountain is too small, not suitable for moving around, not suitable for farming, not suitable for building houses, and even not suitable for building workshops. So, climbing to the top of the mountain is not very meaningful to the Yun family.

Besides, apart from the narrow foothold on the top of the mountain, there is only the sky, and people who climb to the top of the mountain are likely to regard the sky as their next target, which is too dangerous. "

As the mother and daughter were talking, a beam of fire suddenly jumped out from outside the high wall. It was more than three feet high and the flame was bright. This was not the sound that could be produced by a simple kerosene bomb. Only the flamethrower of the kerosene tank, a powerful weapon in the army, could produce such a fierce flame.

Immediately afterwards, bursts of screams that were not like human voices came from outside the high wall. Anyone who was sprayed by this oily flame would have a very slim chance of survival.

The kerosene tank injured people and also damaged the fence trees planted by the Yun family outside the wall. Li Si's face was gloomy, and he shouted to the family general standing not far away: "Drive those killers a hundred steps away. If they kill anyone, it's my responsibility."

As soon as the retainer agreed, a hundred or so men opened the side door and went out. A moment later, shouts of killing rang out everywhere.

Wu Mei looked at her reckless daughter and said, "The reason they set fire here is probably because they want to drag the Yun family into the battle. Don't you think about it?"

Li Si said angrily: "Even if they think so, what does it matter? We will beat anyone who hurts the Yun family. Once we kill them all, they won't have that intention anymore."

Wu Mei said with a smile: "Can you be the master of the Yun family?"

Li Si said: "Eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law, after I officially enter the family, mother will no longer be in charge of family affairs. From now on, I will be the one making the decisions on these matters."

Wu Mei sighed and said, “Yun Chu is so calculating. This is a royal dispute. It’s not good for him to get involved. It’s okay for you, Princess Anding, to get involved. After all, this is also a royal dispute.

After you return to Chang'an, you should get married as soon as possible and give birth to the eldest grandson of the Yun family as soon as possible, so that everything will be stable."

Li Si was about to nod when he heard a loud bang and the tall wall of the Yun family's courtyard collapsed. Wu Mei was startled and was firmly protected by the guards in the middle. Then she saw a group of cavalrymen rushing out from the alley of the Yun family's mansion. The war horses nimbly jumped over the collapsed high wall and lined up to charge into the battlefield outside the courtyard wall.

After the cavalry attacked, many servants immediately carried various things and piled them on the gap. In just an incense stick's time, the gap was completely blocked by debris.

Wu Mei turned to look at Li Si, only to hear Li Si shouting.

"Clear the isolation zone to prevent the fire from spreading. Anyone who dares to enter the isolation zone will be killed without mercy!"

Although the scene was chaotic, when Wu Mei looked closely, she found that the Yun servants' advance and retreat were very orderly. Some put out the fire, some blocked the hole, and some even climbed up to high places such as rockery, holding longbows to provide cover for the servants who were blocking the hole.

Yu Xiurong came over with a smile and said to Wu Mei, "Why don't you go sit in the flower hall for a while, Queen? The children will take care of you there."

After Wu Mei entered the Yun family's flower hall, she found that although the guests all looked pale, their overall mood was still normal. There were four of them at a table, and in front of them was the Yun family's proudest game - mahjong.

At this point, Wu Mei laughed happily and said to Yu Xiurong: "Why don't we come too."

Yu Xiurong smiled and said, "That's exactly what I meant."

"Don't be so naughty!"

Yun Chu pinched Jin Manru's ankle and threw aside her outstretched foot without stockings.

Jin Manru said in a charming voice: "Your Excellency is a rude man."

Yun Chu said: "Don't overdo it."

Jin Manru said: "The Minister of War Cen Changqian is the Queen's true confidant. If you want to live a good life in the future or want to make a difference in the army, you must take advantage of this chaos to kill him."

Yun Chu once again let go of Jin Manru's feet and said, "The Yun family does not want to participate in military affairs."

Jin Manru unyieldingly stretched out her foot again, this time directly to Yun Chu's crotch. After Yun Chu dodged it, Jin Manru said, "If there is a chance, kill the Marquis Tang Xiujing, the Sima of Fengzhou, together. He is a person that Your Majesty values. As for the Lieutenant General Liang Ying of the Prince's Sixth Command, he should be the Marquis's man. If not, he is the Prince's man, so kill him together as well."

Yun Chu pinched Jin Manru's feet and pondered for a moment, "Why didn't any foreign generals participate in this war?"

Jin Manru's face flushed, and she said in a dreamy voice, "This is the decision of the Queen. Most of the Tang generals are willing to follow Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, so she has no choice but to use foreign generals. The Queen is not unprepared for this war. Most of those who are pushed to the front are Tang people. Because even if these Tang people submit to the Queen, once the Crown Prince ascends the throne, they will abandon the Queen one after another."

Yun Chu pushed away Jin Manru who was trying to throw herself into his arms and shouted out the window, "Yun Jin!"

Yun Jin's handsome and pale face suddenly appeared in the window.

Yun Chu said: "Take the people from Qingyi Tower to kill the foreign generals of Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Turkic, Mohe, etc. in Luoyang."

Jin Manru, who was curled up on the brocade couch like a cat, said to Yun Jin: "They are easy to find..."

Yun Jin said angrily, “Shut up.”

After saying this, he looked at his father with resentment and disappeared into the darkness.

Yun Chu picked up the tea bowl and took a sip of herbal tea, then looked at the bright moon in the sky and said, "Go to hell."

“I love an empty kitchen the most!”

Yun Luan lifted a gauze cover and took out a large piece of cooked beef with tendons from underneath, took a big bite and said to Princess Taiping.

Taiping picked up a pig's trotter, took a bite and threw it back into the gauze cover. He thought it tasted bad, so he scooped a mouthful of cheese from the ice jar with a spoon, stuffed a few bites into his mouth and ate it, saying, "It tastes bad."

Yun Luan immediately opened a large cabinet. As soon as the cabinet was opened, white cold air came out from inside. She almost stuck her entire body into the cabinet before taking out a jade plate.

He put the jade plate on the table and said to Taiping, "Eat it quickly. This is ice cream, peach flavor. Don't ask me why it is called this name. My father gave it to me."

Taiping scooped a spoonful with great effort and took a bite, then his eyes immediately narrowed with happiness. It seemed that this thing was very much to his liking.

While eating ice cream, Taiping said to Yunluan nonchalantly, "It's no use trying to please me. I will never marry you. My mother and father will not allow me to marry you. Your Yun family already has a princess."

Yun Luan nodded and said, "It has nothing to do with whether you marry me or not. You are born to be the kind of person who makes people want to treat you wholeheartedly. Eat more. There are some apricot flavored ones in the freezer. I'll get them for you after you finish eating."

"You like Yun Guanguan, right?"

"Yes, I try so hard to be nice to you, just hoping that you can help that stupid girl. She is obviously a woman, but she wants to be an official."

"Well, it's really stupid. When I see the promotion documents from my mother in the future, I will fill in her name..."

"That's great. By the way, we grew up together as childhood sweethearts. What kind of man do you like?"

Taiping stopped the spoon in her hand, licked the ice cream at the corner of her mouth with her pink tongue, and said slowly: "I want the most gentle and handsome man in the world."

Yun Luan took a bite of ice cream and said, "I see. My big brother's type, right?"

Taiping looked at Yunluan with disdain and said, "You are the only one who thinks your elder brother is the most handsome man in the world, right?"

Yun Luan rolled her eyes and said, "Is there any man more handsome than my elder brother?"

Taiping seemed to be lost in memories, and said slowly: "During the Mid-Autumn Festival, I ran away with Wei wearing a Kunlun slave mask. After I got separated from Wei, I hugged a man wearing the same Kunlun slave mask as Wei. He took off the mask and looked at me tenderly and said, "Young lady, you recognized the wrong person..."

Yun Luan took two bites of beef and asked quickly, "Who is it?"

Taiping was awakened by Yunluan's words, and immediately said in a fierce tone: "What are you going to do? Why are you asking? What does it have to do with you?"

Yun Luan gritted her teeth and said, "That guy is finished. Everyone in Luoyang wants to kill him!"

"you dare!"

Taiping threw away the spoon and pointed at Yunluan in an excited tone.

(End of this chapter)