When she walked out of the study room, she saw Zhang Chuchen and Murong Xianyue standing dozens of steps away. Zhang Chuchen had a happy face, and her luxurious black robe made her look chic, elegant and radiant; Murong Xianyue on the right is tall and handsome, wearing a black warrior uniform, looking heroic.
Both of them were dressed in men's clothing that facilitated movement. If it weren't for their overly developed chest muscles, they would have thought they were a pair of handsome young men.
They are still the same people, but compared to before, their energy and spirit seem to have made a qualitative leap; their mental changes have nothing to do with Yang Ji, but because of Yang Su's death.
For the ten of them, Yang Su is not only an enemy, but also a great benefactor who raised and trained them. Therefore, Yang Su is a very scary "big devil" in their hearts.
This kind of fear and servility rooted in their bones and souls may not even be realized by them, but "it" does exist. Now that Yang Su has passed away, the invisible shackles that existed deep in their souls seem to have disappeared all of a sudden. They feel as if they have thrown away some heavy burden, but they can't tell what exactly they have thrown away.
Regardless of Liu Rumei, who had already become a concubine, among the other nine people, Zhang Chuchen was the eldest. After she was ordered by Yang Ji to remind the Yang family, she came back as if she had been reborn.
Seeing Zhang Chuchen beaming with joy, with smiles on his brows and eyes, obviously in a very beautiful mood, Yang Ji joked: "You are so happy, are you going to have a baby?"
Zhang Chuchen's face turned red. She quickly suppressed her smile and shook her head: "It's not me, it's my mother! In six or seven months, I will be a sister."
Yang Ji was stunned for a moment, but he could not stop praising him: "This old master is so awesome, he is indeed a master of swordsmanship!"
"puff……"
People who are in the world of martial arts always have some strange and colorful thoughts in their minds, even women, women are no exception. Before Yang Ji could finish his words, Liu Xu burst into laughter.
When she smiled, Yang Ji also realized the relationship between swordsmanship and swords, swords and scabbards, but it was a bit embarrassing, so he pretended not to know. As he walked forward, he asked Liu Xu: "How have the main staff of King Qi been doing lately?" What news can I have?”
Changsun Cheng once said that Yang Jian and the southern gentry were flirting and had an ambiguous relationship, so Yang Ji silently asked Liuxu to send people to monitor Qiao Lingze, Chen Zhilue and others to see what they were up to.
"There is nothing unusual about these people." When talking about business, Liu Xu also suppressed his smile. Seeing that there was no one around, he asked in a low voice: "Young Master, can you send someone to keep an eye on Prince Qi's Mansion?"
Yang Ji thought for a while and said, "It's okay, but it must be an outsider among outsiders, and we must never let them know that it is Tianmen."
"My slave understands!" Liu Xu nodded understandingly.
Secretly spying on state officials and vassals has always been a taboo in officialdom. Although he has been repeatedly banned, if he is discovered or caught red-handed, it is very easy to get the excuse and be criticized. However, under the Tianmen main hall, there are branch halls with different names, and under the branch halls, there are small seemingly independent sects. The leaders of these small sects are all dead men of the royal palace. Except for themselves, everyone in the gang thinks that they are a complete and independent sect.
These wandering small sects trade news and exchange information with some idle "rangers". As for those "Rangers", they are willing to do anything in order to get a generous "bounty", and the information they give is also very accurate.
The "outsiders among outsiders" mentioned by Yang Ji refer to these "rangers" who buy and sell information.
While the master and servant were talking, they arrived at the dining hall.
Yang Ji didn't have many guests tonight, so the dining hall where the banquet was held was specially used to entertain distinguished guests. Although the internal area was small, the interior furnishings were several grades higher than that of the main dining hall.
The name of the dinner is a family banquet, just like an ordinary treat, it is more casual; so those who have wives will bring their wives. Those without wives are alone; although they also have concubines, no one will take them with them. This is the most basic respect for the master.
On the host's side, the two elders did not attend. Xiao Ying, the indispensable hostess, and Pei Shuying, the concubine, also attended. Concubine Liu Rumei, because she was about to give birth and should not be too active, ate in the back house with her elders and brothers Ritian, Riyue and Yue.
At the turn of autumn and winter, the weather is getting cooler and it is better to nourish yourself, so tonight I will eat "Gudong soup", which is hot pot.
The delicious "Gudong soup" is not only appetizing, but also warms the body and keeps the body healthy. It can be said to be the favorite of the Sui Dynasty people. However, after eating hot pot, you will be smelly all over your body. Therefore, hot pot is generally not eaten at formal banquets. Only family banquets and small gatherings that show intimacy will be held.
The male guests heard that it was a family banquet, so they were dressed more casually and obviously posed as if they were eating with their mouths open. Even Xiao Yu, a person from an orthodox noble family, was no exception. He stayed in Liangzhou for nearly four years and became infected with the heroic spirit of the Northwest.
Yang Ji couldn't help but feel happy when he entered the dining hall.
Xiao Ying, the hostess, has inherited the Yang family tradition very well. The dinner arranged by her is very simple and "rough".
The banquet she arranged was divided into left and right sides, with clear distinctions; men gathered on the left and women on the right. The two sides are far apart, so as long as there is no loud noise, they can not interfere with each other.
On the table is a small rectangular conference table, and in front of each seat is a pottery pot with a round bottom and a top. The small square door below contains burning charcoal, and the soup in the round earthenware pot above is full of heat, showing that it has already boiled. There is a small table next to the couch, which is filled with chopped raw food and wine.
"Your Majesty!" When Yang Ji entered from the side door, sitting and chatting were Yin Shishi, Murong Sanzang, Xiao Yu, Li Jing, Xue Ju, Yuchi Gong, Li Daliang, Ling Jing, Song Zhengben, Wei Zheng, Hao Yuan, Zhu Can, Zong Luohu, Su Dan, Shi Huaiyi and others stood up one after another.
Xiao Ying, Pei Shuying and the ladies from each family also stood up to greet them.
"I'm sorry for keeping everyone waiting for so long!" Yang Ji said with a smile and cupped his hands. The guests were all here, but he, the host, had not shown up yet, which was really unreasonable. Fortunately, my wife is very helpful and arranged everything properly.
"Where, where, Your Majesty is being polite." What everyone said was not entirely polite.
The men and women here have all lived in Liangzhou for several years. Such gatherings have been held countless times, and they are all familiar with each other. As long as there are no "outsiders" around, everyone is more relaxed. In addition, I know that Yang Ji has been busy with a lot of things recently, and I know that he is very busy now.
"A Ying, although we are a family, it's a bit unreasonable to just have winter soup, right?" Yang Ji did not sit down immediately, but "complained" to Xiao Ying who came to him.
Xiao Ying glanced at Zhu Can, who was smiling proudly, and said with a smile: "Old, when Ah Can heard that all the people coming tonight were his own family, he took over the power of the chef and spent an entire afternoon tinkering in the kitchen. Not only him, but Daliang, Yaoshi, Brother Xue, Jingde, Jingzhi, Zhengben, Xuancheng, Luohu, and others were also dragged to the kitchen to help."
After a pause, he added: "Ah Can is in charge tonight. To be honest, I don't know what other delicacies there are."
The gentleman is far away from the cook Da Sui is the correct interpretation of the gentleman who is far away from the cook, let alone Zhu Can who was born as an imperial cook. Even other men are not ashamed to cook. So when it comes to cooking skills, Princess Xiao Ying may not necessarily win over the men here. Not to mention anything else, Wei Zheng alone is a guy who never tires of fine food and fine food. Not only is he an excellent cook, but he is also an excellent wine maker.
Zong Luohu has been living in Turks for many years, and the beef and sheep he roasts are also quite delicious.
As for Zhu Can, he was originally an imperial chef. Can he compare to him?
The other people Xiao Ying mentioned were either from the palace or came out of the palace, so on this occasion, they were considered half of the master's family. It was reasonable for them to be the underlings.
As soon as she said this, everyone burst into laughter, and the atmosphere of the party became even more intense.
Zhu Can was even more embarrassed and said: "The main ones are soup, roasted beef and sheep, etc. Everyone has heard it countless times, and it's not surprising to hear it. However, 'Hun Yang Shi Hu' was just developed by the imperial chef in the palace. It is said that the saint and the queen especially like to eat this famous dish, and the young master also said that this dish is good. So I went to the palace to learn it for a few days through the young master."
"How does it taste?" People who have never eaten it suddenly became excited when they heard what he said.
Zhu Can chuckled and said: "The masters in the palace rated it very well. I don't remember exactly what they said. I only know what they said about blue, indigo and purple."
"Haha!" Everyone laughed.
Yang Ji said with a smile: "This dish is indeed delicious. As for whether Lao Zhu is blue, indigo, or purple, or green beyond blue, we have to taste it to know."
He high-fived and said loudly: "Serve."
After giving the order, the steaming cooked food was brought up by the maid on standby.
The most attractive one is 'Hun Yang Shi Hu'. The main ingredients are sheep and geese. You buy a big goose, butcher it cleanly, then fill it with prepared glutinous rice and spices, and then stuff the goose into the sheep's belly. The geese are prepared per person, and as for the sheep, it depends on how many geese can be stuffed into one sheep, and then the sheep skin is sewn and grilled. After the mutton is roasted, take out the goose from the sheep's belly and eat it.
However, Zhu Can's "Hunyang Shihu" is different from this standard. He first stuffs the sheep's stomach with grassland-style spices, then puts in the seasoned goose, and then fills the goose with another kind of spices. Seasoned pigeons.
In addition to Hun Yang Shihu, there is also a hard dish similar to Thousand Layer Pancakes. The main ingredient of this dish is thinly sliced mutton, which is spread layer by layer in mixed wheat flour mixed with Sichuan peppercorns, cornel juice, and five herbs. , then pour it with ghee, and then bake it on the fire. Bake it until it is half cooked and serve it, and all kinds of fragrances will burst out.
In addition to these two cooked dishes in front of everyone, there are slices of meat for hot pot and various light side dishes.
In the upper class of the Sui Dynasty, meat was the top priority, and women would not think about dieting to lose weight. Therefore, this combination not only won praises from men, but also moved women's index fingers.
Yang Ji tasted the pigeon meat, and it was really delicious. The aroma of the pigeon meat itself penetrated into the aroma of goose and sheep, and became a more appetizing taste, and the glutinous rice filled with chopped green onions was also Fragrant, glutinous and delicious.
At this family banquet, there was a big bowl of wine and a big piece of meat, and it was a hearty meal.
After three rounds of wine and five tastes of food, Yang Ji felt that his body was as hot as if it was on fire. He pulled open his collar a little and asked, "How about singing and dancing?"
"puff!"
"puff!"
"puff!"
As soon as these words came out, the sound of spitting wine kept ringing!
When it comes to Wangfu, everything is good. Only the singing and dancing are really, really eye-catching.
To put it bluntly, it’s just a group of female sumo wrestlers dancing. Except for Li Daliang, who grew up with Yang Ji, who watched it with gusto, no one else could stand it.
At the party on the day everyone returned to Beijing, when the wine was halfway through, Yang Ji also let singing and dancing add to the fun.
Yin Shishi, Murong Sanzang and others really thought it was a beautiful girl dancing and started to make noises without knowing what was going on. As a result, they couldn't eat anymore, but they couldn't say anything and could only endure it.
After learning a lesson once, how can everyone agree this time?
"That's it, that's it!"
"That's good!"
"That's right!"
"..."
On this issue, everyone rarely reached agreement.
"It's really tasteless!" Li Daliang shook his head. He got married not long after he returned to Beijing. His wife was Yang Xiong's daughter Yang Xue'e, the princess Yicheng in history.
She was extremely beautiful, and her talents and conduct were impeccable. The only thing that dissatisfied Li Daliang was that she was too "thin."
Li Daliang felt that his requirements were not very high. He did not require his wife to be as perfect as the Eight King Kongs beside the Queen Dowager, but if she could be half as big as the Eight King Kongs, he would be satisfied. However, my wife just doesn’t put on any weight, so what can I do?
Yang Ji also knew about his unique preferences and tastes. But everyone has different tastes, so what can you say? Compared to Zhu Can, Li Daliang is considered normal.
Lao Zhu is even more unique. He doesn't like young girls with yellow flowers. What he likes is the kind who take over a mountain and become an old bustard.
Zhu Can is now married, and his wife was originally a madam; of course, the madams of this era are definitely not the ones in film and television dramas, and their actual age has also changed to about thirty; and Zhu Can's wife has been retired for several years, Now she is just a twenty-five-year-old beautiful and talented woman.
According to Yang Ji, this girl is actually better and more outstanding than the daughters of many aristocratic families; just because of her past hardships and experiences, she knows how to cherish and be grateful and is more knowledgeable about the world than women who live in a superior environment. As for Zhu Can, who is naive and stupid, now that he is married to such a wise and well-rounded wife, he will definitely not suffer in the future.
As for her past, even Zhu Can himself likes and pursues it, so what can others say?
So as a boss and friend, the only thing Yang Ji can do is to help the couple keep their secrets. And considering Zhu Can's future and the feelings of their future children, Yang Ji sent someone to find out the details of his wife, and then forged a good identity for her. Nowadays, except for a limited number of people such as Yang Ji and his wife, Li Daliang, no one knows the origin of Zhu Can's wife.
"Be righteous!" Murong Sanzang, who was all hair and beard, was sitting close to Yang Ji. When he saw that Yang Ji was unanimously rejected by everyone, he had a look of regret on his face, for fear that he would insist on his own opinion and let the female sumo wrestler dance. , quickly changed the subject, and said to Shi Huaiyi, the son of an old friend: "You used to accompany the king to the Great Lakes area and made great achievements. Why were you suddenly transferred back to the Beijing barracks? Could it be that Lao Shi planned for you to give up martial arts and become a scholar?"
Shi Huaiyi smiled bitterly and said: "Huaiyi, as a general's disciple, of course also hopes to achieve success and fame, and to have a wife and son. How can there be any reason to abandon martial arts and become civilized?"
"Then why did you come to Beijing?" Murong Sanzang asked in confusion.
Shi Huaiyi glanced at Su Dan and said, "Same as Brother Su Shi, we are all requested and arranged by our elders. There is nothing we can do about it. But we are both in the army, so among the Beijing soldiers, it should be the same."
"I am a martial artist in the Sui Dynasty. It is indeed easier for soldiers to get promoted than civil servants. But there are differences among soldiers. The Sui Dynasty is at its peak now. Only we bully others, and no one dares to bully us." Murong Sanzang pulled the weeds like weeds. He raised his thick eyebrows and said, "Even if there is a conflict on the border, it will be dominated by border troops. Beijing troops rarely have the opportunity to fight. It is not easy to rely on one's own ability to seal a wife's shadow."
"General Murong is right! If you follow the steps and work conscientiously, even if everything goes smoothly, your life as a general will be over." Master Yinshi said murderously: "Good man, you should carry a three-foot green sword to the battlefield. You have to go up there, you have to kill people! Huaiyi, if you are willing to return to Liangzhou, I will go to General Shi to intercede, and then we will continue to fight side by side."
"General Yin, you will soon have the opportunity to fight side by side!" Yang Ji looked at Yin Shishi in a funny way.
Master Yinshi was stunned for a moment and asked, "Really? Huaiyi is going back to Liangzhou?"
Shi Huaiyi also looked expectantly.
"It's not that Huaiyi is returning to Liangzhou, but you are going to the capital!" Yang Ji said: "The saint is going to expand the emperor's personal army to 100,000 people. The name is Xiaoguo Army. The Xiaoguo Army is divided into ten prefectures, each with ten thousand people. Man. The saint has already told me that you will report to the palace tomorrow and serve as the Minister of Military Aircraft in the Military Aircraft Department, responsible for the expansion of the Xiaoguo Army."
After that, he said to Xiao Yu: "And you, Shi Wen, the saint asked you to report to the palace as well."
"This...how is this possible?" Master Yinshi and Xiao Yu were stunned.
"It's impossible!" Yang Ji sighed and said with a wry smile: "Except for you two, my second uncles are Dugu Sheng, Liu Wujian, Liang Mo, Li Qiong, Wang Wei, Wang Bian, Wang Xingben, Yao Junsu, Gao Junyaye They are about to enter the capital, and the saint has already issued an order to them. The specific arrangements are not yet known."
Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked. Even the girls who were joking there looked over in disbelief.
Personnel adjustments will inevitably cause chaos for a period of time, and then you will slowly adapt. The emperor actually transferred back eleven generals at once, which had an impact on Liangzhou no less than an earth-turning dragon.
After a long while, Murong Sanzang said anxiously: "Your Majesty, what will we do in the future?"
Once the holy decree is given, it is an unchangeable fact. Murong Sanzang, as the military commander of Liangzhou Prefectural Mufu, was more concerned about Liangzhou affairs at the moment.
He is old and doesn't want to fight anymore. It’s just that everyone has made Liangzhou, a poor, backward and war-torn city, what it is today. Everyone has put in countless hard work and sweat, and everyone has special feelings for Liangzhou. Now that all eleven important positions are suddenly replaced by unfamiliar newcomers, can Liangzhou's New Deal continue?
Can everyone’s years of hard work be preserved?
"It depends on the court's arrangements!" Yang Ji picked up the wine glass and drank it down with a smile.
The emperor's trust in his ministers had a psychological safety value, and cooperating with all Yang Guang's actions was the safety cordon Yang Ji left for him. This large-scale transfer was completed amidst laughter and scolding. It seemed to be a normal rotation and transfer, but how could Yang Ji not know the deep meaning of Yang Guang's breaking up and splitting up the Liangzhou clique?
However, human beings are social animals, especially those in the officialdom. Human beings prefer to stay in groups for warmth and work together to deal with all threats. However, Yin Shishi and others do not have powerful powerful figures or powerful forces behind them; as long as Yang Ji does not fall, Yang Guang Even if they were torn apart, they would still be regarded by other factions as the Liangzhou faction and as his Yang Ji people.
He can't get rid of Yin Shishi and others, and Yin Shishi and others have no choice.
The most typical of them is Liu Fang, the governor of Jiaozhou and Duke of Lu. Although he is a general under Yang Shuang, he has very little daily contact with Yang Ji. However, they both regard each other as one of their own; when they meet, they are not strangers at all. feel. And people from other factions always regard them as one.
Yang Ji had actually anticipated and prepared for this split, so the shares of the Silk Road Alliance were another more tangible link.
In fact, Yang Guang's move did not mean that he doubted Yang Ji or had murderous intentions towards Yang Ji. In fact, this was just the emperor's normal operation, and it was the same for any faction.
And to a certain extent, the split was beneficial to Yang Ji, because on the surface, his faction was dispersed and out of control. But in fact, seemingly non-existent seeds have been scattered throughout the Sui Dynasty and have taken root and grown in various places.
The most terrifying thing about aristocratic families is actually this silent penetration.
It is precisely because of the above considerations that Yang Ji is happy to pretend to be crazy and act stupid.
The greatest good is like water. Water benefits all things without dispute, but it is everywhere.
