I, the queen and the father, start with a deer as a horse

Chapter 144: Zimo Red Dust Comes, Everyone Can't Stop Looking at the Flowers

After speaking, there was no response for a long time.

Wei Xinglai thought: "These guys don't even dare to wrestle, do they?"

Thinking of this, he raised his eyes and saw that the officials of Honglu Temple on the opposite side were all looking at him with strange eyes.

"That's an interesting proposition, just."

Zhou Zheng glanced at his colleagues around him, hesitantly said: "We are all scholars, and we have never done anything before, so I really don't know what to do."

Wei Xinglai was slightly taken aback, and subconsciously replied:

"What I'm talking about is to send one person to wrestle, not to let the adults play in person."

Zhou Zhengdao: "But today's participants are all scholars, who can we send?"

Wei Xinglai was startled again, his eyes showing a trance look.

Yes!

He had planned in advance that he was going to compete with the opponent, so he brought along the warriors of the Huben Army.

But the other party didn't know, they were not prepared at all, and they didn't even bring a few guards.

A bunch of powerless civil servants.

Even if Shen Shang punches them all down, what's the point?
Think of this.

Wei Xinglai sighed in his heart, suddenly felt a little ashamed of his villainous heart, and said slowly: "It's my officer who is being rude. Everyone should drink."

As he spoke, he raised his wine glass and said:

"Master Zhou, I would like to offer you a toast."

Zhou Zheng raised his glass and paid tribute from the air.

The two drank the wine in their glasses.

Zhou Zheng suddenly said:
"I think that Master Wei's proposal is very good.

Anyway, the mission will stay in Chang'an for a while, why don't we choose a good day and let the new army compete with the Huben army, how about it? "

When the members of the mission heard this, they were surprised, looked at Zhou Zheng, and said in their hearts:
"The reputation of the Huben Army spread far and wide, not only because of its overall strength, but also because any soldier randomly picked out from it and placed among the people is a first-class expert!
This time, those who followed the mission were even more carefully selected experts from the Huben army.

Especially that Shen Shang, who is capable of carrying a tripod, his strength is unparalleled, even if he looks at the world, no one can match him."

"And what about the new army? Even if they are well-trained, they are just a group of poor people who can't eat. How can they be trained in just two or three months?

It is nothing more than stronger than ordinary soldiers.

He actually let such a new army compete with the Huben army? "

"Is he crazy?"

Not only members of the mission think so.

Even the officials of Honglu Temple had the same idea.

A young official stared wide-eyed, looked at Zhou Zheng in disbelief, lowered his voice, and persuaded: "My lord, the soldiers of the Huben army are powerful, and the new army may not be able to fight against them."

Zhou Zhengquan pretended not to hear, looked at Wei Xinglai, and said with a smile, "How does Master Wei feel?"

Wei Xinglai was in a daze for a moment before he was convinced that he hadn't hallucinated just now.

You sent me to your door to slap me in the face!
What is my reason for not agreeing?

Wei Xinglai restrained the excitement in his heart, and replied: "Very good."

"If that's the case, then this matter is settled!"

"Okay! It's settled!"

Looking at Zhou Zheng in front of him, Wei Xinglai couldn't help showing joy on his face, and raised his wine cup again.

"I will offer another toast to Mr. Zhou!"

Zhou Zheng smiled and raised his wine cup to pay tribute from the air.

Seeing this, the colleagues around were startled.

Then he showed a thoughtful expression and fell silent.

Only the young official just now showed an anxious look on his face, and approached him a little bit, persuading him:

"My lord, absolutely not!"

"Fang Xiang spent a lot of money to create a new army, but did not achieve much. Although no one in the court dared to say anything, they were very dissatisfied."

"If you lose this time in the competition with the Huben army, you will inevitably lose your tongue. If Fang Xiang finds out, he will definitely blame you, my lord!"

Zhou Zheng looked at that person and said leisurely:

"How do you know that the new army will definitely lose?"

The young official breathed heavily for a moment, and said:
"Leaving aside the fact that the Huben Army's reputation is far and wide, and its strength is far superior to my new army, it's obvious that Wei Xinglai's sudden proposal for a martial arts competition has bad intentions.

Before that, they must have made complete preparations, how could they allow the Huben army to lose to the new army. "

Zhou Zheng was still unmoved, and said: "I have already agreed to what I say and the water that is poured out, so what can I do?"

The young official said: "It's not easy to go back on your word, so you can dismiss him casually on the grounds that your lord is the young minister of Honglu Temple and can't control the new army."

Seeing Zhou Zheng's still indifferent expression.

He finally couldn't restrain the anxiety in his heart, and with a look of worry on his face, he said hastily:
"My lord, this is not only for your sake, but also for the sake of the imperial court."

"If the new army, which cost a lot of money to build, is easily defeated by the Huben army, it will not only be a matter of losing face! It is very likely to cause turmoil in the court!"

Zhou Zhengdao: "What you said is a bit alarmist."

The young official opened his mouth, wanting to say something else.

Zhou Zheng glanced at him, lowered his voice, and said leisurely:

"Do you think such a matter, if no one instigates it, I will bring it up on a whim?"

The young official was slightly taken aback, but he was speechless.

It took a while before he realized it, and said, "What does your lord mean, that the proposed competition was ordered by Prime Minister Fang?"

Zhou Zheng didn't answer directly, but said leisurely: "I can achieve the position of the young minister of Honglu Temple, how can I do things as hastily as you think."

"If you want to gain a firm foothold in this court, you need to learn more, watch more, think more..."

Speaking of this, Zhou Zheng glanced at him, looked away, and continued drinking.

These young people, thinking that they have read poetry and books, always want to teach their predecessors how to do things.

As everyone knows, none of the seniors who can gain a firm foothold in this court did not come from a group of people.

What he could think of, how could the seniors present not think of it?
The young official obviously understood this after being instructed, and felt a little embarrassed in his heart. He lowered his head blushingly and stopped talking.

On the second floor, private room.

The little empress looked at Fang Xiu and asked:

"Is it your order to compete with the Huben army?"

Fang Xiudao: "What do you think, Your Majesty?"

This basically represents the answer.

The little empress revealed doubts in her eyes, and asked, "Why did you do this?"

Fang Xiu asked back, "Why didn't you do this?"

The little female emperor said: "Isn't it very embarrassing to lose in the martial arts contest?"

"To lose face is also to lose face."

The little empress spat, and said angrily: "What's the difference between losing your face, and losing my face, or the court's face?"

Hear this.

Fang Xiu turned his head to look at the little empress, shrugged his shoulders, and asked casually, "Your Majesty also thinks that the new army will definitely lose?"

Seeing Fang Xiu's expression, the little empress hesitated for a moment, and said, "The Huben army is the elite of Zhou's elite after all. A few years ago, with a force of 20, the [-] army of Wu who chased them fled in embarrassment."

Fang Xiu sneered, and said: "The soldiers of Wu Kingdom are just mobs, and they are not much better than the government soldiers. Any trained army can defeat them."

The little empress pouted, but did not refute.

Fang Xiu didn't get a response, looked at the little empress, frowned, and said with a smile: "I will make a bet with Your Majesty."

The little empress said decisively: "No gambling!"

Fang Xiudao: "Your Majesty is not curious about the bet?"

The little empress said: "Anyway, I don't gamble!"

Seeing this, Fang Xiu opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

But the little empress suddenly stretched out her slender hand and stopped him.

"Don't say it! Whatever you say, I won't bet with you!"

"It doesn't matter how tempting the bet is, anyway, I will lose in the end, it's meaningless!"

Fang Xiu: "."

What is this human sobriety.
He shrugged helplessly, and said: "Since Your Majesty is afraid, then I have nothing to say."

The little empress snorted and said, "I'm not a child anymore, aggressive methods are useless to me!"

As he spoke, he held his head high with pride on his face.

"."

Fang Xiu was speechless.

A moment of silence.

The little empress suddenly asked: "Why are you so confident in the new army?"

Hear the question.

Fang Xiu turned his head to look at the little empress, his expression suddenly became serious, and he said seriously:

"The new army was built by the minister himself. If the minister is not confident, who else will be confident?"

The little empress hesitated for a moment and said, "But they don't even know how to use weapons."

Fang Xiu chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, you know what wrestling means?"

The little empress thought for a while and said, "Isn't it just a martial arts competition?"

Fang Xiu explained: "To be precise, it is a contest without any external force."

The little empress looked surprised: "So that's how it is."

After a pause, he said again: "On the day of the competition, don't forget to remind me that I want to watch the battle."

Fang Xiu arched his hands and said, "Observe the order."

first floor.

The competition between the Huben army and the new army has basically been decided.

Three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

The banquet is drawing to a close.

Everyone present was slightly drunk, shaking their heads, not knowing what they were talking about.

Mission side.

Seeing this, Wei Xinglai looked at a young man in brocade clothes beside him, leaned over his ear, and asked:
"Liu Yu, have you finished the poem I asked you to compose?"

The young man in brocade clothes, with a delicate and rosy face, replied:

"It's just a little poem, so what's the difficulty?"

Having said that, he hiccupped and continued:
"Tell me the truth, I have already finished the poem the day my lord told me to do it."

Wei Xinglai was slightly taken aback, frowned, and asked:

"The official asked you before, why do you keep shirking?"

Liu Yu, who is known as the chief poet of Yanbei Mansion, had a smile on the corner of his mouth, and said slowly:
"If you tell your lord the content of this poem before I go down, and your lord takes it for himself, what can I do?"

Wei Xinglai took a deep breath, calmed down the anger in his heart, and said calmly:
"Didn't I agree to you, I'll give you this opportunity to show off, and you can recite your poems by yourself!"

Liu Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Wei Xinglai, as if he was drunk, and said in a vague voice:
"You guys say one thing and do another...it's not credible"

As soon as this word comes out.

Wei Xinglai's eyes burst into blazing anger, but thinking that he would still be useful, he held back and said coldly:
"Tell me the content of your poem."

Liu Yu glanced at him, did not refuse, and chanted softly.

"Zimo Hongchen came over, everyone looked at the flowers.

All the osmanthus trees in Xuandu Temple were planted after Mr. Zhao left. "

Hear this poem.

Wei Xinglai's eyes lit up, his face showed excitement, and he couldn't help saying in a trembling voice:
"Good! Great poem!"

The first line of the poem describes the continuous flow of pedestrians, vehicles and horses on Chang'an Avenue.

The second sentence describes that people have just returned from viewing flowers in Xuandu Temple.

Xuandu Temple is a Taoist temple in the south of Chang'an City, which is quite famous.

The last two sentences speak for themselves.
There are many osmanthus trees planted in Xuandu Temple, all of which were planted by Mr. Zhao after he left Chang'an.

The Zhao Gong here undoubtedly refers to Zhao Jing, the last prime minister who was pushed out by the prime minister Fang Xiu ten years ago and was forced to resign.

The four lines of the poem are nothing to listen to, they just describe the scene of the people in Chang'an city admiring the sweet-scented osmanthus.

In fact, the irony is thick!

The first two sentences.

People who look at flowers refer to the upstarts in Chang'an City, such as Du Chen'an, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Qin Xingyan, Minister of the Ministry of Households, etc.
For the sake of wealth and fortune, they rush to the rich and powerful, just like rushing to see sweet-scented osmanthus in the world of mortals.

The last two sentences.

What Gui Qianshu was referring to was the new prime minister——Fang Xiu!
Ten years ago, Mr. Zhao became an official and left Chang'an.

Fang Xiu climbed to the position of prime minister by relying on flattery and flattery, and made Chang'an a mess, with smoke and dust blowing into his face...

In just four lines of poems, using the topic to express Liu Yu's great contempt and ruthless irony for these people.

This
Exactly what Wei Xinglai wanted!

He restrained the excitement in his heart, looked at the Hanlin Academy book beside him, and said:
"I don't care what you think, I must memorize this poem later!"

Immediately afterwards, I took a deep breath, stood up, and recited this poem.

at this time.

But Liu Yu grabbed him, and said drunkenly:
"Didn't your lord just agree to let me recite this poem?"

(End of this chapter)