When Xu Haiming became the governor, he also had the title of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs as usual. In theory, he could be on an equal footing with Xiao Chen.
But this time Xiao Chen was sent as the imperial envoy to persuade the remnants of the Tianxuan Society to surrender, so Xiao Chen had to be the envoy.
I know that you two are at odds with each other, but I hope that you, my beloved, will put the overall situation first and not have any quarrels with him, let alone compete with him. Anyway, after arriving in Yizhou, you will each perform your duties and do not interfere with each other.
As for why Li Wanjiang didn't directly publicly announce Xu Haiming's appointment?
That's because he still has some concerns. After all, his younger brother and sons are still fighting in Yizhou, and they actually have a say in the selection of the governor of Yizhou.
It seemed inappropriate to directly appoint Xu Haiming without consulting their opinions, so I first appointed him as a deputy envoy to temporarily take over the affairs of Yizhou...
Xiao Chen was tricked by the fat man and had to hold a birthday banquet. You have already received birthday gifts from others, is it unreasonable not to treat him?
Hundreds of invitations were sent out, but everyone accepted the invitations, but many refused to come. It's not that they were putting on airs and not giving Xiao Chen face, but that some officials with low official positions knew that this was someone else's family. Mr. Xiao is very polite.
If you really come here, you are ignorant of current affairs. Besides, six ministers, princes and ministers are here. Do they dare to sit with others?
My seatmates were also very awkward, they didn’t dare to say anything, they didn’t dare to fart, they didn’t dare to eat the food, they didn’t dare to drink the wine… Isn’t this suffering?
In addition, many officials who were rehabilitated by Xiao Chen did not come. They knew that they should avoid suspicion at this time. The gifts had been delivered anyway, so it didn't matter whether they came or not. Besides, you can’t come at any time, why do you have to rush to this day to join in the fun?
As we all know, Mr. Xiao has many friends and many enemies. It is obviously inappropriate for him to show up at this time. If someone with ulterior motives takes over, it doesn't matter if he is harmed, but it will be bad if he is harmed by Mr. Xiao.
These are also the unspoken rules of officialdom. Everyone acts according to the rules and knows each other well, so there is no need to elaborate on them one by one.
But more than a hundred people came, and Xiao Chen's small banquet hall was packed to the brim.
The chief ones are Zhu Xiaochuan, Wang Anbang, Chen Wenqi, Lu Jing, Ma Wuming, Shao Wenzhao, Yu Changlin, Wu Zhongze, Wu Zicheng, Gong Shouli and other military and political officials of second rank and above.
Even Xu Haiming and the fat Li Hong, two dignified third-rank ministers, took second place. Also second were Liu Qiheng and Zhu Tianfu, the imperial censors.
Since Chen Jisheng was dismissed from office, the Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate has been vacant. Liu Qiheng is far inferior to Chen Jisheng in terms of ability and prestige, so he is currently only temporarily acting as the third-rank censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Zhu Tianfu is a third-class Enqi Lieutenant with the rank of fourth-grade general. Although he has no actual duties, he is still considered to have a title. Moreover, he was bestowed by the emperor. In terms of status, he is equal to Li Hong and others, and there are several others. He is an official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of War, the envoy of Jinyiwei Town, the general of the Nine Gates Admiral's Office and the Forbidden Army.
As for Liu Changxu of the Wucheng Army and Horses Division, Qian Yi, Chu Xiong, Wu Fazheng, Zuo Sizhong and others are all behind the three seats...
The atmosphere of the banquet was very harmonious at the beginning. Xiao Chen came on stage to give a speech of thanks, and his witty and humorous remarks triggered bursts of laughter.
After coming down, they sat around the table and toasted, and everyone drank well. Even Xu Haiming said a few nice words. After all, it was Xiao Chen's birthday, and no matter how good-tempered he was, it was not easy for him to get angry on this occasion.
In fact, speaking of it, Xiao Chen's opponents didn't have a chance to turn to him at all. He only had a few fights with Xiao Chen openly.
But despite the fact that the adults on the chief's rank seemed to be brothers to Xiao Chen and seemed to be close to each other, in fact, several of them were Xiao Chen's real enemies...not including Gong Shouli.
Maybe the wine was too good and the atmosphere was too lively, so everyone got a little drunk without knowing it. They said things they wouldn't normally say, hiding their faces with wine.
It got to the point where we got into an argument, made our faces red and thickened, and ended up even quarreling.
Although everyone here is an official in the same dynasty, and they are all polite when meeting each other, calling them brothers, in fact, there are many conflicts in private...
The reason was to write poems. I don’t know who suggested that everyone write a poem to congratulate Mr. Xiao on his birthday. This was just a fun thing to do, and everyone agreed. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or not. The relationship is that everyone drinks to have fun.
But after finishing the congratulatory poems for Xiao Chen, someone was still not satisfied and wrote a few more poems for people at the same table and the next table as a joke, which was not easy to listen to.
Jiang Kuan, a doctor from the Qing Li Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, did not want to deal with Li Hong. He raised his glass and said with a smile, "Everyone has written poems, so I will also write one, and I will give this poem to Li Shilang!" It’s a joke, Mr. Li Shilang has so many things that he can hold a boat in his belly, but don’t argue with me.”
This was not pleasant to say, because Li Hong was a fat man with a big belly. The doctor Jiang Kuan was clearly mocking him when he said that his belly could hold a boat.
It is also well known that Li Hong hates people calling him fat, but Jiang Langzhong insisted on saying it in front of him, which shows that it was intentional.
"Oh? I didn't know that Mr. Chang could compose poetry, so I have to listen attentively." Li Hong's big fat face had already been pulled down, and he looked at Jiang Kuan with a smile on his face, "If you can do it like this Mr. Xiao is so kind, I will use this poem to leave an eternal reputation in the future."
"Hahaha, it's just a few random words made out of emotion. It can't be compared with Mr. Xiao, the most talented person in the world." Jiang Kuan laughed and said, "I saw that Mr. Li came on horseback just now, didn't he? Fortunately, I am riding a horse. If I were riding a donkey, I am afraid that all the seats here will be scattered and the adults haven’t arrived yet.”
There is also an allusion to his words.
Since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, there have been constant wars, resulting in an extreme shortage of horses. This year, Li Wanjiang specially issued a decree for this purpose, ordering officials below the fourth rank not to ride horses, but only donkeys.
Li Hong was a third-grade minister, and according to regulations, he could ride a horse. However, seeing that many of his colleagues responded to the emperor's call and rode donkeys, he thought that he could not lag behind, so he also found a donkey.
But he was burly, fat, big, and swaggering through the city on a donkey, which made him look very funny.
And he was busy with official duties and always had to inspect construction sites outside the city. The little donkey was so overwhelmed that he foamed at the mouth and fell to the street. He also fell on his butt in the street.
Many people witnessed this funny scene with their own eyes, and it spread and became a joke.
Li Hong was embarrassed and angry. From then on, he never rode a donkey again...
Everyone knows about his embarrassing story, but they just laugh about it behind his back, but they never bring it up in person.
A few months have passed and I have gradually forgotten about it.
However, Jiang Kuan brought up the old incident in public, which clearly meant that he deliberately wanted to embarrass Li Hong!
