In the west city of Jixian County, Zhuo County, there is a large house with several front and back floors. The house occupies a vast area and is surrounded by elms and willows. It has carved beams and painted buildings, cornices and brackets, and pavilions and pavilions arranged in an orderly manner. In a two-story pavilion, Lu Changxie narrowed his eyes and sat on a couch.
This great elder of the Lu family was once a general in the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties. When the Sui Dynasty was established, he also served as a Sima of the Hanoi County Army. However, his cousin Lu Ben, who was the general of the Left Army Guard at the time, was dissatisfied with Gao Jiong in the early days of the founding of the Emperor. He was in power with Su Wei and attempted to depose the crown prince Yang Yong, which led to him being implicated and removed from the rank of citizen. Lu Changxie's eyebrows were high, and the prowess of his youth could be vaguely seen in his old face.
Serving tea on one side of the coffee table is a tall, handsome young man in white clothes. This person is Lu Mingyue, a descendant of the Lu family. Lu Mingyue poured a cup of tea for Lu Changxie and whispered: "Great Elder, since Xiao Shiwen took office, he has frequently met with newly appointed officials in Youzhou; it is said that they are preparing to implement Liangzhou's New Deal in Youzhou."
Lu Changxie's hand holding the tea cup paused slightly and said, "Don't pay attention. Xiao Shiwen is a scholar after all. He lacks courage and courage. The real organizers are still in Liaodong."
"The Great Elder is talking about King Yang Wei?" Lu Mingyue asked softly, her thick eyebrows slightly twitching.
"It's King Wei!" Lu Changxie nodded and said in a deep voice: "Liangzhou's new policy involves all aspects and all walks of life, and it involves countless people. No one was optimistic about it at first, and everyone thought he was messing around. Judging from the things he implemented in one county after another, even the late emperor and the emperor had the same aspirations. However, no one expected that the so-called 'a young boy and a bunch of rabble' actually got the thing done."
"Great Elder, there is no doubt about the military achievements of King Wei; however, the changes involve too many areas, and apart from the barren Liangzhou, there is nothing worthy of praise; now, the high position of Shangshu Ling, In terms of the emperor's favor and personal military achievements, the standard of government affairs is not commendable." Lu Mingyue pondered for a moment, and then said: "In my opinion, it is nothing more than good luck, nothing more than his ability to hear and understand the emperor, and nothing more than being in line with the emperor's will. Ambition, so he won the favor and appreciation of Emperor Daye with his daring, hard-working and reckless style."
In the third year of Renshou, the four brothers and the descendants of the Taiyuan Wang family, the Boling Cui family, and the Qinghe Cui family attended Princess Leping's birthday. They originally wanted to make a name for themselves at the Furong Garden banquet. Unexpectedly, when the Wang family's children in Taiyuan were drinking, they were amazed by Xiao Ying's beauty. In order to win the beauty, the Wang family's children grabbed Yang Ji, who claimed to be "Daxing Yang Wenhui", to fight for poetry. However, Yang Ji did not use his status to pressure others, and he couldn't resist it. Then he started to fight with them about poetry.
However, the Wang family's children had bad conduct and could not compete with Yang Ji in a poetry contest, so they resorted to their family background and started to act violently. Lu Mingyue and others thought that "Yang Wenhui" was a child of a small family, so they started to tease and help him. ; This finally made Yang Ji angry, and then he blocked all the people who made noises.
At that time, Yang Ji defeated the Turkic Khanate army and brought Bujia Khan's head to Beijing. He was in a moment of high spirits and brilliance. All the aspiring young people in the Sui Dynasty regarded him as a role model. His experiences and deeds in Furong Garden were once there. People spread the word, and these ignorant Shandong gentry children immediately became notorious.
Everything has a cause and a result. When these troublemakers offend someone they can't afford to offend, they all pay a heavy price for their youth and frivolity. Because their family has a large business and many branches, the competition between the branches is very fierce. Therefore, after they become notorious, whenever the family has an opportunity to recommend talents, they will naturally leave them aside. This has also resulted in them still being unable to enter the university. official.
Lu Mingyue did not reflect on her own mistakes and blamed Yang Ji for what happened today; when she spoke, her tone was a bit unpleasant.
"I don't agree with what you say! Good luck is also a skill. If you were born in a commoner's family, how could you learn martial arts? If you were born in a commoner's family, how could you learn martial arts? Head of the Lu family? How can you talk to me?" Lu Changxie frowned slightly, and said to the unwilling Lu Mingyue: "I know I am very hostile to King Wei, but the words have come back. You guys back then If the person you meet is not King Wei, but an ordinary person, you must have done far more excessive and unethical things than King Wei; even if you lose the poetry contest, even if you didn’t say anything out of grace at the time, you will definitely use your words afterwards. Family background and personal connections suppress the other party. This is because we did the same thing when we were young."
After a pause, he added: "We will understand each other's origins before provoking and suppressing; but what about you? Your vision is not as good as ours, your intelligence is not as good as ours, and you are not even as arrogant as we are. So, this cannot be done. If you want to blame others, I can only blame you for being stupid, even if you die, you deserve to die!"
Lu Changxie was also frivolous when he was young. When he was a general in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty, although he encountered many difficulties and dilemmas from both inside and outside, he was always victorious and turned danger into safety. At that time, he also thought it was due to his own ability; now looking back and thinking about it, he realized that firstly, because of the strong military power of the Zhou Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty, and secondly, because of the protection of his elders and brothers in the family, it was his own ability in the end.
If it were not for the first two conditions, he would have been killed by a secret arrow from "one of his own people". How would he have a chance to use his personal abilities? However, as he said, most people of his generation would "look at the food and tailor it to their needs" before doing anything. But now these children are not only arrogant, but also arrogant. They are really embarrassing!
When Lu Mingyue heard this, his face turned red and he was speechless. After a long time, he lowered his voice and said: "Elder Elder, the new policy they implemented in Liangzhou is not very feasible in Hebei. Not to mention us, the children of the Lu family, there are many The children of small and medium-sized aristocratic families are all excited. Fortunately, Xiao Shiwen only talks about it but does not do anything. If he really takes action on this matter, he is afraid that he will violate the ancestral system and disturb our Sui Northeast."
"Ancestral system? The ancestral system of the Sui Dynasty was the system of the late emperor, and what did the late emperor say in his edict?" Lu Changxie glanced at Lu Mingyue and sneered: "He said that the format of the laws and regulations may be inconvenient. "You should revise it in accordance with the previous edict and serve as a political leader." The meaning is that "laws and orders should be used according to the times and should be changed according to the current situation." Never use "ancestral rules cannot be violated" to speak, and never use "old rules" Do things according to the old rules, otherwise it will be of no benefit to the country. Since the late emperor said so, what are the rules and regulations of the Sui Dynasty that cannot be changed?"
Refuting Lu Mingyue's argument, Lu Changxie added: "Today's Daye Emperor has the ambitions of Emperor Qin, Han Wu, Zhou Wu and Sui Wen. He has the ambition to forge ahead. He also reuses and promotes King Wei, King Cai, King Teng, Yang Gongren, Gao Jun, Zhang Heng, Pei Ju, Xiao Jue, Duan Wenzhen, Xiao Yu and others; these high-ranking old, middle-aged and young people are either aggressive reformers or have an open-minded attitude towards reform."
"Once the monarchs and ministers of the Sui Dynasty have put their military affairs, administration, and laws in order, the Huanghuang period of the Sui Dynasty will surely reach a higher level. By that time, the life of the noble families and the surrounding foreign races will be far more difficult than it is now."
"Of course, this is an irreversible trend! Only by following the trend and adapting to the trend can the Lu family continue to pass on. If we go against the trend, we will be destroyed by the surging trend."
Lu Mingyue couldn't grasp the Great Elder's thoughts, so she asked based on these words: "Great Elder, is it related to this general trend that you asked me to come?"
"That's right!" Lu Changxie took a sip of tea and said to Lu Mingyue: "In the general situation, King Wei is an irreplaceable person and has an irreplaceable role; while King Cai, King Teng, Gao Jiong and Pei Ju , Xiao Jue and others just widened the gap he opened. It is precisely because of this that many aristocratic families tried their best to get in touch with King Wei and sent their children to him to build relationships. Since everyone is like this, everyone is caught With the momentum of the King of Guards leading the flood, our Lu family naturally cannot buck the trend. I asked you to come and explain so much to you because I am preparing to seize this momentum."
The way the Lu family arranged for Lu Mingyue and Lu Mingxing, who were unable to serve in official positions, was to roam north and south of Yanshan Mountain in the name of horse thieves, specifically responsible for sniping at the Yuan faction's caravans, and using the Yuan faction's wealth to "transfuse blood" to the Lu family. With the Yuan family's power in Youzhou falling apart and the Western Liaoning Corridor becoming unblocked, if this Lu family horse thief continues to exist, the government will be able to find out sooner or later; if so, the Lu family will be doomed.
"The military rations we donated have arrived in the central part of Liucheng County. You and Mingxing no longer need to go to the north to be thieves under aliases. You will immediately go to Liucheng with a hundred capable men to replace Dabao and be responsible for delivering this batch of supplies to the army; and then in Serve beside King Wei and carve out a future with military merit." Lu Changxie slowly pushed the letter on the table to Lu Mingyue and said, "This is a joint letter of recommendation between me and the head of the family. You can take it to meet Wei. Wang. He owes our Lu family some favors, and he will not refuse to give them this face."
"Here!" Lu Mingyue was overjoyed, stood up excitedly and saluted, "Thank you, Great Elder, for your cultivation."
The four brothers, Lu Mingyue and Lu Mingxing, are branches of the Lu family. Although they are very comfortable and happy being horse thieves, it is not a long-term solution, let alone what Lu Mingyue and others want. They all dream of being a general with dignity and dignity, and they all want to make achievements. However, the struggle and competition between the various branches of the family is very serious. No one considers the feelings of the four brothers at all, and no one thinks about them at all.
Now that he has finally waited for this day, why isn't he extremely excited?
"King Wei is very strict in running the army. What happens to you in the future is up to you." Looking at the ecstatic Lu Mingyue, Lu Changxie felt extremely bitter in his heart.
In fact, whether it is him, the head of the family, Lu Chisong, or other talented people, everyone wants to use this opportunity for his direct descendants. But after they counted them down one by one, they found that although there were many military talents among the direct descendants, most of them lacked the courage to dare to fight. If they didn't dare to fight, how could they get the attention of Yang Ji, who was strict in running the army?
In desperation, they all agreed that instead of spending this expensive favor on the direct descendants who were unlikely to be reused, it would be better to use it on the Lu Mingyue brothers; just because their brothers dared to fight and fight compared to the pampered direct descendants. , and not even for his life.
He said so much, but in fact he just hoped that the four Lu Mingyue brothers would change the battlefield and continue to be the "cannon fodder" of the Lu family willingly and gratefully!
Seeing that the great elder was lost in thought and had no other explanation, Lu Mingyue respectfully took the letter of recommendation, saluted Lu Changxie to the ground, and carefully left the hall on the second floor!
After a long time, Lu Changxie stood up and walked to the window, quietly looking at the sky outside and sighing.
If the Lu family does not have the authority to protect them, their wealth will not last long; he and the head of the family should go to Taiyuan to see the emperor and make some appropriate concessions and compromises, so that Lu Chu can reduce the biggest obstacle on his way to promotion. If the Lu family does not understand and respond, not only will Lu Chu stop here, but the Lu family, which has missed the general trend, will also disappear silently into the long river of history just like those annihilating many families.
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As the war drew closer, the atmosphere in Liaodong County and Yan County, which were the frontiers of the war, became increasingly solemn. "Tile paving" stretched for more than ten miles in Huaiyuan Town of Yan County and the Sui Army camp on the west bank of the Liao River. The entire camp was heavily guarded. The flags were fluttering and rustling in the strong wind. The Sui soldiers in the camp were in high morale and filled with evil spirit. Outside the military camp, patrols and scouts kept coming and going.
To the west of Liao River, a strong and wide pontoon bridge has been built, and there are countless ships carrying thick wooden planks on the water. When the soldiers and civilians on the pontoon bridge and on the bridge piers in front work together to lift the planks and wooden beams, and erect them After reaching the bridge pier, the fishermen waved their oars vigorously and sailed back to the west bank.
With the concerted efforts of the military and civilians, a bridge that was two feet above the water and about two miles wide gradually extended toward the other side. If everyone continues to work so hard, this huge square-like bridge will be successfully erected across the Liao River in less than ten days.
At the same time, the Goguryeo army on the other side was also in full swing. Countless soldiers and civilians were "racing against time" along the river bank to build a solid stone wall four to five feet high above the water. Although both sides were doing their own thing and not interfering with each other, there was a heavy cloud of war. shrouded over Liao River.
Liucheng County, located to the west of Yan County, is different from the hot and tense Liaodong County and Yan County. Although it entered a state of war early, the whole county is very quiet and inconspicuous; however, Wanghaitun on the Bohai Sea is Another scene.
Wanghaitun is located in the gentle zone of Yiwulu Mountain, where the mountain is submerged into the sea. The silt carried by Bailangshui that flows into the sea along the mountain is blocked by the mountain and settles on the south bank. Over time, it forms a small Wanghaitun is like a peninsula. Wanghaitun used to be a fishing village, but after the establishment of Youzhou Navy, it became the base of the Navy, and the Navy's wharf was located in the southwest of this small peninsula.
For many days in a row, the prisoners who were transferred to work as civilian husbands to build the official road of the Western Liaoning Corridor escorted carriages loaded with food and baggage along the coastline towards Wanghaitun. On the road, there were carriages and horses, and independent carriages pushed by human hands. The deer cart made a creaking sound.
As night fell, Wanghaitun, which had been noisy all day, gradually became quiet. Yang Lun, who was appointed as the naval commander, stood on an arrow tower in front of the military port with his helmet on his head and a horizontal sword in his hand. He looked at the brightly lit dock with a solemn expression. In the military port in front, there were densely moored boats. Many warships and merchant ships.
