After Yang Ji helped Yang Guang out of the Zhonghua Palace, he left Daxing Palace and returned directly to the palace. When he entered the gate and walked around the screen wall, he immediately saw the front yard showing a lively and busy scene.
It was the turn of Youxu in midsummer. The dusk light in Guanzhong was strong and the heat was hot. The palaces in Prince Wei's palace cast shadows in the sunset. Since Yang Ji is about to go on an expedition, the servants in the mansion have to prepare a lot of things, and some of them have to go out with their masters, so everyone in the mansion seizes the time to prepare a supply of supplies. From time to time, teams of sweaty guards and servants can be seen bringing some boxes and cages. Items were moved from the back house and the atrium to the front yard.
Everyone has their own responsibilities, everyone is indispensable, and the work at hand cannot be delayed. Yang Ji did not want his appearance to affect everyone, and it was not a big deal, so he avoided the right path leading straight ahead. , walking along the Chaoshou veranda shaded by flowers and trees towards the Xuanwu Hall in front.
Yang Ji walked forward quickly while silently thinking about the mission of this trip.
After a previous conversation with Yang Guang, Yang Ji had a clearer understanding of this mission: Yang Guang nominally asked him to go to Liaodong to assist Li Zixiong, Yu Wenshu and others in the defense of Goguryeo and consume the vitality of the Goguryeo army. However, Yang Guang was extremely proud and arrogant, and the Sui Dynasty was the well-deserved overlord at the moment. Therefore, Gao Yuan's actions finally angered Yang Guang, so he committed the mistake of eager for quick success and wanted to give Goguryeo to himself. Went out.
Otherwise, how could Yang Guang recognize the big title of "Expedition to Goguryeo"? What's more, if Yang Guang only helps defend, how can he let himself go? How could he appoint himself as the Shangshu Ling of Xingtai, Hebei Province?
However, Yang Ji did not think that Yang Guang was stupid or wishful thinking; this was because King Gaoyuan of Goguryeo was in Liaodong City. If he could be captured, Goguryeo would fall into leaderless chaos, and the Sui army could take advantage of this opportunity. The autumn wind swept away the fallen leaves and wiped out Goguryeo.
This kind of thunderous combat method is exactly what he is good at, so it is reasonable for Yang Guang to let him serve as the Shangshu Ling of Hebei Xingtai and the general manager of the march of Liaodong Road.
As I approached the left side hall of Xuanwu Hall, I saw a handsome, handsome and energetic young man waiting at the door. This man's name was Liu Xiaosun, and he was a descendant of a poor family in Nanjun, Jingzhou. He was also a "weak scholar" with both civil and military skills.
Liu Xiaosun was a student of Guozijian during the Renshou period. Later, because he admired Liu Xuan and Liu Zhuo, he resigned as a student of Guozijian and went to Liangzhou University to further his studies and teach at the same time. Later, I got acquainted with Kong Yingda, Kong Desao, Yan Shigu, Yan Xiangshi, Yan Qinli, Li Xuandao, Gai Wenda, Lu Congdian, Yao Silian, Liu Bin, Cai Junhe, Gengbao, Shou Zizhi, who were also teachers and students.
They all had similar talents and similar interests, and they were all underappreciated poor scholars and descendants of aristocratic families, so they cherished each other and became good friends.
Yang Ji knew in his heart that these people were all talented people with a good reputation, so he recruited them into the government as officials; however, before that, they all focused on their studies, and Yang Ji did not want their potential to be stifled by heavy government affairs, so he let them They put a name on it. They will only be called in to help during school holidays or when there is a serious shortage of manpower. Now, Yang Ji is short of people again, so he transferred older and academically accomplished people to Chi Shiguan.
Liu Xiaosun is now one of the military officers in the official system of Prince Wei. Although his rank is only below the eighth rank, he is also a person who eats official food. When he saw Yang Ji coming from a distance, he stepped forward and saluted: "Your Majesty, we have a guest. Come visit!"
"Who is here?" Yang Ji casually handed the Qilin Sword to Zhu Can, who was following closely, and asked Liu Xiaosun casually.
This era attaches great importance to etiquette. When a dignitary or aristocratic family interacts with others, they will often hand over the greeting card first. If the other party accepts the invitation, they will proceed with the visit. If the other party does not accept the invitation, they will give up. Regardless of the guests coming at this time, they are either one of their own, clansmen or relatives. When the host faces such people, there is no need to put on a formal face and posture; if it is too formal, it will be vague Reveals alienation.
Yang Ji had a lot of things to do today, so he did not accept the greetings sent by others. In addition, it was already dark at this time. He instinctively thought that it was one of his own people, clansmen, relatives, or subordinates who were accompanying the army, so he seemed more casual. .
"Your Majesty, the visitor is Duke Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty. He and his nephew Yang Gongren have been here for nearly half an hour and are now waiting in the guest hall." Liu Xiaosun was "first to enter the wall" and did not know much about the nastiness among nobles and the fights between factions; He hesitated for a moment and then said: "Your Majesty, Manager Hao said that Duke Tang Guo was one of the distinguished guests, so he accepted it on his behalf."
"Li Yuan is indeed one of the distinguished guests. If someone comes uninvited in the future, just welcome him into the house!" Yang Ji could not change the rules of the world, and he had no relevant means to challenge them, so he followed the popular custom of the time and followed the popular custom of paying homage first. However, he would miss the talented people who came to his door, and he would miss important military events and some confidential matters. He also gave a special order to the people below - everyone who comes to visit must be greeted regardless of their identity. Enter the mansion.
There is this rule in the house, and no one dares to come to Prince Wei's house to fish in troubled waters, eat or drink, so even if the masters such as Yang Ji are not in the house, the stewards will warmly introduce the guests to the reception room to entertain them, and the guests who come, usually They all come to visit if they have something to do.
Liu Xiaosun had recently become a full-time official and had just arrived from Zhangye the day before yesterday. He seemed unaware of this rule, so Yang Ji casually reminded him at the door.
"Here!" Liu Xiaosun responded.
"I'm sorry for the long wait, Mr. Tang." Entering the door of the guest hall, Yang Ji saw Li Yuan sitting upright on the guest seat. Under him was a tall, burly, and handsome young man. This was Li Xiaogong.
Li Yuanzheng was looking at the door intentionally or unintentionally, and stood up quickly when he saw Yang Ji entering. Li Xiaogong, who was at the head, saw this and stood up quickly. When Li Yuan heard this, he quickly raised his hands and saluted: "Your Majesty, you are so polite, our uncle and nephew are here so late. Excuse me, I should be the one to say sorry."
After exchanging a few words, Li Yuan pointed to Li Xiaogong behind him and introduced to Yang Ji: "Your Majesty, let me introduce to you. This is my nephew Li Xiaogong, who is seventeen years old this year. He has been diligently studying the art of war and practicing martial arts since he was a child. He is also a descendant of my Li family who is well-versed in both civil and martial arts and has strong martial arts. His abilities are even better than those of Quanzi Jiancheng."
"Li Xiaogong, who is of humble rank, meets the king!" Li Xiaogong took a few steps forward and gave Yang Ji a military salute.
Yang Ji was not familiar with Li Xiaogong, but they knew each other, and it was impossible for Li Yuan not to know that by introducing him to him so formally and grandly at this time, he was clearly recommending Li Xiaogong to him! Seeing Li Xiaogong's handsome appearance, his sword-shaped eyebrows piercing his temples, and his piercing eyes, he smiled and said, "It's true that a general has no arrogance. I'm glad to meet Mr. Li."
"Your Majesty, you have given me a great reward. Compared with your Majesty, what is the worth of your humble position?" Li Xiaogong bowed and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, you are invincible in every attack and invincible in all battles. He is the famous God of War and War in our Sui Dynasty. I only regret that I am not in Liangzhou and cannot fight side by side with the king!"
"I'll have this opportunity soon!" Yang Ji couldn't help but laugh. Hearing that he kept describing himself as a "humble position", he took the initiative to ask, "I wonder where Mr. Li is working now?"
Li Xiaogong raised his hand and answered: "Reporting to your Majesty, my humble position was that I was at the top of last year's martial arts examination list. Thanks to the grace of the saint, I am now a brigade commander in Xun Yifu."
Part of the Sui Dynasty's Forbidden Army belonged to the "Three Guards and Five Prefectures". These so-called "Three Guards and Five Prefectures" were respectively the Three Guards, Xunwei and Yiwei. Fu, Xun Erfu, Yi Yifu and Yi Erfu are collectively called the Five Prefectures.
Before the birth of martial arts, the "Three Guards and Five Houses" had always been a place where civil and military officials and children of aristocratic families were gilded. As long as they served as soldiers for a few years and had enough qualifications, they could go out to become generals, captains, county magistrates, and military officers. There are military positions such as General Hussar and General Chariot.
When the martial arts exam was born, Yang Guang originally planned to let all warriors in the world take the same exam and compete in the same field. However, in the end, he was controlled by others and power. He had to divide the martial arts exam into two rankings, A and B, and let the civil and military officials and the children of aristocratic families take the A exam respectively. Ranking, poor family test B ranking.
The two rankings of A and B were forced to compromise at the time, but as the saying goes, "What is gained is lost in the east" and "a blessing in disguise is a blessing in disguise." After such a point, Yang Guang had reason to have the opportunity to make a difference between the good and the bad. The "Three Guards and Five Houses" have been reformed.
Yang Guang regarded "Three Guards and Five Houses" as a place for the top martial arts students to be selected, and raised the threshold for being selected into the "Three Guards and Five Houses". If he could not compete with others and failed to pass the exam, even if
Even if you are a child of hundreds of civil and military officials and a noble family, you cannot enter the "Three Guards and Five Houses"; and the people selected are all capable people who can defeat the children of other noble families.
After such changes, the talent composition of "Three Guards and Five Houses" has undergone earth-shaking changes. Although there are still some people in there who are just hanging around and mixed up their seniority, there are also many people who are capable and ambitious people. And Li Xiaogong is undoubtedly the latter.
Li Xiaogong knew that if he stayed in the "Three Guards and Five Houses" for a few years, he would definitely be promoted to a general through his family background and connections with Li Yuan, and then he would be promoted step by step based on his qualifications. But he is not the kind of mediocre person with mixed qualifications, so he has the ambition to "get fame immediately", and decided to quit the "Three Guards and Five Houses", and then go to the front line to fight and perform meritorious service, using his personal ability and Military merit achieves the purpose of promotion.
His idea was unanimously agreed by Li Yuan, Li Shentong and others. They were very optimistic about Li Xiaogong's potential. At the same time, they also knew that military generals were different from senior civil servants. Military generals were a profession that "eat youth"——
Because although generals are promoted based on military merit, the time for generals to perform meritorious service is very limited. Once they pass the peak of their lives, their physical fitness and energy will decline, and they will no longer be able to serve as generals in the front line; and the Sui Dynasty was a dynasty that produced many famous generals. , if Li Xiaogong, who has unlimited potential, continues to endure step by step like this, he will never be able to get ahead in his life or become a general.
However, Li Yuan, Li Shentong and others supported him, but they knew that they had to find the right boss and the right place for Li Xiaogong; otherwise, Li Xiaogong would still have no chance to make meritorious deeds and would still not be able to make a name for himself.
The reason why Li Yuan came to visit at this time was mainly because he had long wanted to talk to Yang Jihaosheng. Although the Li family was a member of the Guanlong nobles, the Li family was too weak. The object of sacrifice made him have little sense of belonging to the Guanlong nobles and the Wuchuan Alliance. In the case of Li Shimin, Dugu Zheng and Dou Wei's joint pressure to prevent him from taking revenge made him see clearly the nature of the Guanlong nobles: the big fish eats the small fish.
However, although he wanted to follow Yu Wenshu's example of "extinguishing himself from the Guanlong nobles", he did not have that kind of luck, so he could only position himself as an indirect role, secretly moving closer to the royal family and becoming the royal family's internal correspondent. Gain royal support. Especially Yang Ji, who is the leader of the King Wei family and one of the representatives of the royal family and poor families. If Yang Ji recognizes him, then at least half of the royal family will recognize him and provide him with certain conveniences so that the Li family can have the opportunity to develop.
However, Li Yuan knew that the situation was very delicate. The major political forces, including the Guanlong nobles, and the three major factions within the Guanlong nobles were all waiting for an opportunity to attack, and Yang Ji played a decisive role in this. If the Yuan family Knowing that he came to visit Yang Ji, the Yuan family would most likely take unfavorable measures against the Li family.
The second step is to recommend his nephew to Yang Ji. If Yang Ji is willing to hire Li Xiaogong, then there will be a link between the two, and they can reduce some worries when talking. After all, the two families had not had much contact before. If they talked about some sensitive topics rashly, it would not only be presumptuous, but it would also make Yang Ji think too much.
It was out of various considerations that their uncle and nephew chose this time to visit, and they also used the name of recommending talents to the outside world.
He didn't want to be so cautious, but he had no choice but, who made him the weak one?
——————
[Something suddenly occurred to me: when I was naming the characters in the book before, several readers said impassionedly and plausibly that when naming their children, ancient nobles must follow the rules of "The Book of Songs for Women, the Songs of Chu for Men, and the Analects of Confucius for Women." This principle is true no matter which dynasty it is, and it must be true. According to their tone, if the authors did not follow this principle in choosing names, it would be a heinous crime and the nine tribes should be punished.
However, in fact, these people have committed serious dogmatism. Take the Yang family of the Sui Dynasty, the Xiao family of the Liang Dynasty, the Chen family of the Nanchen Dynasty, and the Li family of the Tang Dynasty. Everyone has their own way of naming, and they do not believe in this kind of naming at all. Damn it, everyone uses it however they think it works.
The most typical among them is undoubtedly the Li Yuan family. When they name their juniors, they appear to be quite casual and choose whatever they think is good. Li Yuan has a cousin named Li Xiaoji, and his nephew is also named Li Xiaogong. In addition, there are several "Li Xiaox" who are not of the same generation. If not
He knew about their relationship and thought they were brothers of the same generation!
Later, the Zhu Yuanzhang family even came up with a periodic table of elements.
Maybe these people said that Yang, Li, Chen, and Zhu had no background and no level; but what did Xiao say? He comes from a famous family that has passed down poems and books.
Therefore, I think "The Book of Songs for women, the Songs of Chu for men, the Analects of Literature for men, and the Book of Changes for men" are just a direction of naming, not absolute or necessary. 】
