The Beacon of Kyushu

Chapter 95

The next day, early in the morning.

The Chuigong Hall was no longer deserted as last night. The ministers Wen Dongwu and Xilie set up hatchbacks, while Zhao Guangyi sat on the dragon chair in the middle, looking at His Highness and ministers with a sinking face.His gaze was like a sword like lightning, sweeping over everyone's face, and all the officials could not help but feel a chill in their hearts.

After a long time, Zhao Guangyi said slowly, "Our army was defeated in the battle of Gaoliang River. Are you all injured?"

All the officials didn't know what Zhao Guangyi meant by his words, they all looked at each other without saying a word.Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Tingmei, who stood at the head of the literary class, didn't think much, and shook their heads instinctively. The others also took the truth as the truth when they saw the situation, shaking their heads and said: "The officials, the ministers, etc. entrusted the officials with great blessings, and they were not injured. .”

Zhao Guangyi snorted coldly, and slapped the Longshu case hard, "Trust me with great blessings? If I am really blessed with great blessings, why are all the court officials not injured, but I was injured by three arrows? Could it be that the officials you speak of are not Is it me, but someone else?"

Zhao Dezhao's face changed when he heard the words, and he knelt on the ground immediately, "Officials, after the battle of Gaoliang River, all my colleagues couldn't find officials everywhere. The country cannot be without a king for a day, so that's why I support my nephew as emperor. Now The officials survived the catastrophe, how dare the ministers and nephews have any unreasonable thoughts, I hope the officials will clearly investigate!"

Shi Shouxin hurriedly said: "Officials, the matter of establishing the king of Wugong County as emperor is the idea of ​​the last general and has nothing to do with others. If you want to punish, please punish me, Shi Shouxin!"

Cao Bin said: "Officials, although the last general was not the mastermind of this matter, the last general was also personally involved. If you want to punish me, punish me, Cao Bin."

Pan Mei was also about to speak, but Zhao Guangyi slapped the Longshu case heavily, and shouted: "You are fighting to establish a new king before I die, and if I am really gone, don't you want to rebel?"

After he finished speaking, he turned to the first assistant Xue Juzheng, and said: "Xue Qing's family, Shi Shouxin, Cao Bin, and Pan Mei are generals in the army, but they are not effective in supervising the army. How should we deal with it?"

Xue Juzheng pondered for a while, and said: "The official family, according to the Taizu's old rules, can be sentenced to death. But there is a reason for this matter, I hope the official family will be merciful, thinking of the hard work of the three adults who have made great achievements for our Song Dynasty. For the sake of it, it is enough to be demoted and seize the salary. In addition, the humble minister has also participated in this matter, and is willing to be punished together with the adults."

Zhao Guangyi nodded slightly, and said: "Forget it, since Xue Qing's family said so, I will spare the death penalty of the three generals. Cao and Pan will be demoted three ranks in a row, and Shi Shouxin will continue to go back to the place to be your Jiedu envoy." Let’s go. As for Xue Qing’s family, you will be relegated to being a political adviser, and you will stay in the court to see the effect.”

The four of them fell to their knees and kowtowed repeatedly after hearing the words, "I thank the official for his kindness, and I am willing to do my best for the official, and I will repay the official if I die!"

Zhao Guangyi waved his hands impatiently, then stood up, flicked his sleeves, and went straight back to the harem, the four of them also stood up, and left the Chuigong Palace one after another with the ministers, everyone bowed their heads in silence, each with their own confidantes in mind It goes without saying.

Two months later, it will be golden autumn.

Today is the birthday of Cao Bin again.He was dressed in regular clothes early in the morning, pacing back and forth at the gate of the mansion, waiting for all relatives, friends and colleagues to come to celebrate his birthday.

The sun was shining, making his heart warm.He squinted his eyes and looked at the blue sky, but was disturbed by a "quack" crow from above his head.He was inexplicably startled.He subconsciously looked towards Mingsheng, and sure enough, a crow landed on the poplar tree full of yellow leaves outside the courtyard, standing on the branch and screaming non-stop.

Cao Bin looked at the crow and smiled wryly, "Think about how much I, Cao Bin, have contributed to the Great Song Dynasty all my life as a soldier, but now I have been downgraded to three ranks for no reason, and even the reward for defeating the Northern Han Dynasty has not been paid. Not only lost I lost the trust of the officials, and even the crows came to make trouble before my birthday, it was really bullied by dogs.”

A gust of bleak autumn wind blew by, and many yellow leaves on the trees were blown off by the wind, swaying and falling into the mansion.Cao Bin looked at the swaying fallen leaves, and let out another long sigh. He was about to go back to his bedroom to rest for a while, but there was a knock on the door.

Hearing the sound, Cao Bin walked quickly to the door, opened the door himself, and saw that the person knocking on the door was none other than Pan Mei, a good friend in the army.Pan Mei cupped her hands slightly when she saw Cao Bin, and said with a smile, "Guohua, today is your birthday, so it's not too late for me to come?"

As Pan Mei spoke, she waved her hands behind her, and a few servants carried two boxes of gifts and strode into the mansion.Cao Bin smiled and said: "Zhongxun, you and I have known each other for many years, why are you so far away? Besides, not only did the officials not pay the reward for the Northern Expedition, even the reward for the destruction of the Northern Han Dynasty has not been paid for a long time. How good is it at this time? I’ll tell you to spend money again, take the gift back quickly.”

"Guohua, although the official family has not issued a reward, but Pan's mansion still has some savings, so he can't even afford to give a congratulatory gift. If Guohua insists on not accepting it, does it mean that the gift is too thin?" Pan Mei said and opened it. Gift box, inside the box is a pair of white jade lion paperweights and a high-quality sword.

Cao Bin was very happy, so he could only say: "Zhongxun, if you insist on giving me these two treasures, then my little brother will have no choice but to be respectful rather than obedient. It's just that on my birthday next year, don't give these precious gifts again. " After finishing speaking, he called a few servants in the mansion, and asked them to hand over the gift from Pan Mei to the manager for safekeeping! "

Pan Mei smiled slightly, and then walked into the main hall hand in hand with Cao Bin, while the servants carried the gift boxes carefully and walked towards the back hall.

Cao Bin always liked to be clean, and on birthdays, the main hall was kept spotless.The two sat down as guest and host, and after a few words, people came to celebrate the birthday one after another. In the blink of an eye, the spacious main hall was crowded with people who came to celebrate the birthday, and the congratulatory gifts brought by people were also piled up outside the hall.

Pan Mei looked at the people who came to celebrate the birthday, and saw that whether it was the founding fathers Gao Huaide, Li Jixun, and Hu Yanzan, or the newly promoted celebrities Cui Han and Li Jilong, and even Yang Ye and his son who returned to the Song Dynasty after the Northern Han Dynasty was destroyed, there was no exception. Gather here.

Some of these people have known Cao Bin for a long time, and have experienced life and death together countless times, and some have met Cao Bin recently, and they are just acquaintances with each other, but everyone looks at Cao Bin with eyes full of reverence and love.

Cao Bin was naturally very happy when he saw that almost all the people he had invited to the banquet had arrived, and many people he had not invited had also come.He slapped his palms lightly three times, and the servants of the mansion immediately carried trays of steaming and fragrant delicacies into the hall, and placed them on the tables in front of the officials.Afterwards, a few young servants carried a few large wine jars half a person's height like sedan chairs, walked into the hall with difficulty, and placed them in the middle of the hall with a "dong".

Hu Yanzan looked at the roast lamb placed in front of him, almost drooling with greed.He couldn't wait to tear off a leg of lamb, and was about to feast on it.Seeing this, Gao Huaide at the side quickly tugged his sleeve, and said in a low voice: "Brother Huyan, you have no rules. General Cao hasn't moved his chopsticks yet, how can you eat first?"

"Oh! This..." Hu Yanzan sighed reluctantly, and was about to put the leg of lamb back. Seeing this, Cao Bin smiled and said, "General Hu Yan is a man of temperament. If you are hungry, please eat first. Cao is not that particular."

Hu Yanzan laughed when he heard the words, bowed his hands to Cao Bin, and said: "General Cao, I wish you good luck like the long flowing water in the East Sea, and a life that is not as old as Nanshan! I am sincere. Since you let me eat first, I will really eat it." Eat!" After saying that, he really started to eat.

On the eve of the Northern Expedition to Yanyun, many people had already experienced Huyanzan's temper, and now they were all used to it, allowing him to talk, laugh, eat with glib, and didn't care about anything with him.

Cao Bin asked the servants in the mansion to open the wine jar and shared it with everyone. He also held the cup in his hand and said, "Everyone, today is my Cao Bin's birthday. I, Cao Bin, are very happy that you can come to my mansion to support me. They are all friends of my Cao Bin, since they are friends, there is no need for so many rules, just eat and drink. It is just a gift brought by you, please take it back after the banquet, this friendship is appreciated by Cao Bin." He said and looked up. Neck, drank all the fine wine in the glass.

Everyone also raised their glasses and shouted: "General Cao, although the government has not issued rewards for the Northern Expedition, we still have some savings. Is there any reason to take back the gift given to General Cao? Please don't worry about it." Accept it no matter what, otherwise you will look down on us people."

Cao Bin sighed helplessly, and said: "Since everyone insists on doing this, then Cao will lose his fortune. When you have a happy day in your mansion, Cao will definitely prepare double congratulations!"

Everyone nodded, and they drank the fine wine in the glasses at the same time, and the host and guest chatted happily.Cao Bin drank a stomach full of good wine, and felt a little empty in his stomach. Just as he was about to pick up chopsticks to eat a few mouthfuls of food, a servant hurried in from outside the hall.

Cao Bin was taken aback when he saw this, and asked, "What happened outside?"

(End of this chapter)