Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Since the Holy Mother Li was ordered to become a nun and was expelled to Kuozhou, the situation of the blind and mozhijiao raised by her has also become difficult.

There are relatives who are constantly suppressed, and the favored Qiao family is playing tricks. Even though the father, Ji Siluo, has never really targeted him, amidst the whispers of a group of foreign officials who are ruthless, the two who were used to being domineering in the early years are still in love with each other. Where can withstand this gap.

Especially after the Qiao family quickly gave birth to their third son, Dong Zhan, they were even more betrayed by their original supporters, and their status plummeted.

It can be seen from the fact that the eldest son, Xia Zhan, didn't rush back until a little while before the banquet when he was entertaining Song envoys.

When he and his younger brother Mo Zhanjiao were still young, they were not good at hiding their thoughts, and at a joyous banquet, they deliberately put on a cold expression, drinking wine with a heart full of displeasure.

Zanpu couldn't help being very dissatisfied that he fell into the corner of the eye of the servant who had been deliberately ignoring them.

At the moment when Tubo intends to join forces with Song Kangxia, and is busy receiving envoys and discussing details, the two sons of Chizan not only do nothing, but show their faces in front of the guests, just to show him their grievances and resentment ?

It really doesn't matter if it's serious or not.

Thinking of the gentle and pleasant Qiao family, Yuxue's lovely Dong Zhan, and his loyal wife and family who supported him wholeheartedly and made him loyal without any worries.

Thinking about Li Shi who has been hysterical since Li Lizun's death, unaware of the quietly changing situation, and still bossing him around; and these two who enjoyed the glory and wealth as Chi Zan, but in the end they complained constantly because of Li Shi, The second son who always treated him as an enemy because of fighting for power and profit...

Ji Siluo narrowed his eyes slightly, hiding the fleeting boredom.

Lu Ci pretended that he had never seen it, and he would not take the initiative to bring it up. The other officials even tacitly ignored the actions of the two cold Chi Zan.

When the banquet was over, Gu Siluo kindly invited Lu Ci to sit in the inner room, while the other Song officials of the mission were escorted back to the post by the knights.

Lu Ci knew that this was a preliminary agreement on the matter of writing, so he nodded happily, followed behind Zong Siluo, and entered the hidden inner room.

After dismissing the servants, Ji Siluo swept away the politeness he had deliberately made in the main hall just now, and sat down on the seat at will: "Sit."

"Thank you Zamp."

Lu Ci was also polite, thanked him frankly, and sat down on the seat opposite Zanpu.

Gu Siluo snorted lightly, and said meaningfully: "I think you are really courageous."

If he didn't make it clear, Lu Ci took the right to think that he dared to sit down directly, and said calmly: "Zan Puxu doesn't know, if you are in the Central Plains, except when you have to stand in the hall when you go to court, the rest of the time is always You can sit in front of an official's house and discuss politics."

"Still pretending to be garlic?" Gu Siluo chuckled, feeling more and more that the person in front of him was not good enough: "You know exactly what I'm referring to."

"Listening to what Zanpu said, is he referring to that old incident?" Lu Ci made a slightly surprised look, and said with a smile: "If the official is really a cowardly person, he would not have dared to plot against Wen back then. Bu Qi...Zanpu should be well aware of this point."

Ji Siluo was noncommittal.

He didn't mention the stalemate in the hall just now, and the scene where the two sides were at war, but followed Lu Ci's words, and said meaningfully: "Indeed. But your ingenious hands may not only plot against Wen Buqi, but also me. included."

"Zanpu was joking." Lu Ci smiled, and said gracefully: "It's true that my subordinates intend to target Wen Buqi, but in order to ensure that Zanpu's situation is safe, I not only let out all the hidden stakes that I have worked hard to plant for many years, but even Even the most trusted brother-in-law was sent out, and in the end he didn't ask for anything. If it was calculated in the hands of merchants, it would be a complete loss-making transaction, how can it be said that Zanpu was calculated?"

Ji Siluo raised his eyebrows, and said intentionally: "You are reminding me that you still have the grace of saving my life as far as I am concerned?"

"No." Lu Ci's eyes were bright, and he said calmly: "Only mediocre and stupid people need to explain in words. Zanpu is a generation of heroic heroes, and he has always cherished each other with my lord. After that, everyone gets what they need. How can I do the despicable thing of thanking a big country for my kindness? If we really want to divide it, it’s just a matter of who goes first and who comes second.”

When Lu Ci said such beautiful words that were half-truthful and half-false, he couldn't help but smile, even though he was deliberately embarrassing him: "No wonder the uncle of the emperor values ​​you so much."

Lu Ci's appearance is pleasing to the eye, his words are humorous and decent, and his actions are full of courage, which really makes people feel good.

Who would be willing not to reuse such a clever minister?

After these few words of non-soft and not hard confrontation, Zong Siluo completely gave up the little heart that he "forgot" to pray before but was "forced" by Lu Ci, and he looked a little serious, and discussed the business.

Song Ting, who had always pursued the policy of using barbarians to rule barbarians and uniting barbarians to rule Xia, sent Lu Ci here, naturally not to fulfill the so-called curiosity of Ji Siluo.

The main purpose of Lu Ci's trip, in addition to the superficial "reward" and friendly exchange of visits, is also a promise of more future rewards for Zong Siluo, so as to encourage him to continue to be a defense of the Song Dynasty outside the Northwest Kingdom. The purpose of Xia Guo's barrier is.

After listening to Lu Ci's explanation, Gu Siluo readily agreed: "There are unresolvable grievances between Xia Guo and you and me. If Yuan Hao's son invades again, I will definitely put on my upper body and vow to defend the country."

If you were to be another envoy, after hearing what Zong Siluo said, you would probably be in a good mood because of the smoothness of the matter, and you only need to wait for the Tubo side to prepare the oath, and then you can take it back and return to order as soon as possible.

Lu Ci would not be satisfied with this.

"Zanpu is straightforward, so I opened the skylight and said the truth." Lu Ci chuckled, looking straight at Ji Siluo as if he knew everything. If my lord only expects Zanpu to resist the enemy's invasion of your country, why should he send envoys frequently and treat him so graciously?"

Ji Siluo squinted his eyes.

Given the depth of his city, it is impossible to understand the meaning behind Lu Ci's words: Defending the territory should only be the job of the Fan army. And stand by?If this step is only done for them, why would the Son of Song have to increase his official position and reward him to win him over.

It is conceivable that what Song Ting was looking forward to was that they would take the initiative to attack Li Yuanhao who had just been seriously injured, rather than simply guarding.

But for Ji Siluo, who has just regained power and has just stabilized, what he wants more is to take advantage of the business road he won from Li Yuanhao and the endless "rebates" from the Song Dynasty to recuperate and strengthen his financial resources To support the army.

If he had no other choice, he never wanted to provoke Li Yuanhao's hungry wolf who was about to be cornered so quickly, so as not to provoke the opponent to fight back frantically.

Regardless of the fact that Li Yuanhao was being pushed to death by his Khitan father-in-law at this time, the two sides seemed to be in a hurry, if Tubo took the initiative to send troops, maybe they would have to turn the enemy into a friend immediately.

At this moment, looking at Lu Ci, who is not easy to fool at all, and is still smiling at him, he has already regretted from the bottom of his heart why he went to the young Emperor Song to write about this young, yet treacherous and cunning man. Lu Jiedu recruited it himself.

"Lu Jiedu's words are too arrogant."

Ji Siluo changed the subject, and sneered disapprovingly: "Even if it is a stupid person, looking at the current situation, it is not difficult to distinguish between Zong Ke and China. They have a relationship of mutual resistance against foreign enemies. Zong Ke is not like that. China has the advantages of the terrain and needs to face the threats of Xia and Liao. In a critical moment, it needs to protect China from disasters. It is natural to raise an army to pay for the army's food and grass, and to appoint generals and commanders to manage the army. How could it be that Zong Ke has taken advantage of you for nothing, after what Lu Jiedu said?"

"The lips are dead and the teeth are cold, but the teeth are much stronger than the lips." Lu Ci was not afraid at all, and even smiled tit-for-tat, pointing out: "The land in the Central Plains is fertile, and there are many soldiers and generals. In the past year, there are countless good ministers around. Even if they want to encircle, they need to carefully weigh it, it doesn't seem to be an eye-catching difficulty for your country."

Having said that, Lu Ci is also well aware: If that step is really reached, with the ability of this scheming Zanpu, he should try his best to marry Khitan, replace Xia Guo, and earn money. Got a break.

Once Tubo and Khitan united, apart from Xia, Song would be the most threatened.

Gu Siluo did not consider establishing diplomatic relations with the Khitan for the time being, mainly because Li Yuanhao and Yelu Longxu were already Weng son-in-law, so going forward to ask for marriage would bring far less benefits than accepting the Lord Song's wooing, and would inevitably be controlled by the powerful Khitan .

Ji Siluo laughed, shook his head, and said with contempt: "A strong army will lead to a large army? Strong, but horses are precious, and cavalry are hard to find; Guang, but rely on an old and strong General Cao, and there is no successor."

Whether it is Xia Guo or Tubo, they have never stopped coveting the fertile Central Plains for a moment.

It's just that the two countries have sent troops several times in the past, and they were all beaten head-on by the god-like Cao Wei, and their own casualties were severely defeated, so they had to stop and make other plans.

However, Cao Wei is old, and he knows that he will not be able to suppress the northwest border for too long.

Gu Siluo played with the taste: "With General Cao around for a day, Xia Guo dare not commit lightly for a day. When this sea-fixing needle no longer exists, and you don't accept it, I'm curious, how the uncle of the emperor will deal with it."

Lu Ci was dismissed by him unceremoniously, but the old god was still there: "Zanpu's words are wrong. General Cao is a rare general. He has gone through many battles for many years and built a great reputation, which really makes Yuan Hao afraid. Lieutenant generals are plentiful, and there are countless good talents and beautiful jade, the reason why the officials reopened the system with great fanfare is to screen out good generals to prepare for war."

Gu Siluo chuckled lightly: "You really mean something."

Lu Ci smiled, and said confidently: "Resignation is not a talent, it was not long ago that the officials valued it, and was appointed as the chief examiner for the examination, so naturally, I know a little more about the selection of candidates for the examination than others. "

"A general who has never fought on the battlefield, but is very eloquent in his art of war," Ji Siluo said casually, "Isn't he... the Zhao Kuo who talked about wars on paper in the history books?"

"The benevolent sees benevolence, and the wise sees wisdom." Facing the sarcasm, Lu Ci just smiled and said neither humble nor overbearing: "If Zanpu really doesn't believe it at all, why would he listen to my nonsense?"

Ji Siluo squinted his eyes.