Jiuxi

Chapter 676 Chapter 674 [Wonderful Person]

In the afternoon, Han Zhongjie came to Zhang Xu's duty room, winked at his entourage, indicating that they should stand guard outside, and then walked in.

When he arrived at the inner room, he saw that Zhang Xu's face was still unhappy, so he said calmly: "Brother, calm down and don't bother with people like Li Jingda."

Zhang Xu stood up and said, "Brother Han, please sit down."

He personally poured tea for Han Zhongjie.

Han Zhongjie thanked him and said, "In today's dispute, you were fair and impartial, but Li Jingda was so eloquent and yet his heart was full of evil. He is really hateful."

Zhang Xu gradually calmed down and realized that he had indeed lost his composure just now.

In fact, he was usually calm enough and seldom had conflicts with others. He just didn't know what went wrong today and he almost had a public falling out with Li Jingda. It was so different from his usual habits that even he himself didn't quite understand it.

If you think about it carefully, it might be because Li Jingda's heart-piercing words touched his sore spot.

How could he possibly be jealous of Li Tianrun?

No matter what Xiao Wangzhi thought in his heart, Zhang Xu did not think he had any selfish motives. On the contrary, he was acting entirely out of consideration for the overall situation.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xu said calmly: "In fact, Li Jingda's attitude is not wrong, but I consider the problem from a different angle than him. Perhaps in his opinion, it is no problem even if all the more than 200,000 border troops in Jiangbei are handed over to Lu Chen, as if this person's loyalty to Da Qi will never waver."

Han Zhongjie sighed softly and said slowly: "It's strange, why did Li Jingda become like this?"

Zhang Xu shook his head. He and Li Jingda had never been close friends, and they could not be described as familiar with each other.

Han Zhongjie said meaningfully, "I was originally worried that Lord Li would bear a grudge against Duke Rong because of his experience in the border area in the past two years, but now it seems that I was worrying too much. When he was transferred from the Southern Court General to the Dingzhou Grand Commander, although I was not in the court at that time, I heard that he was quite dissatisfied with it. After going north to the border, his situation can be described as isolated and helpless. It is said that some border army generals did not take him seriously at all. With all these things, he actually did not mind at all, which is really amazing."

Zhang Xu picked up the teacup and took a sip. He did not continue the conversation. He looked into the other person's eyes and asked, "Brother Han, what advice do you have for me?"

"Don't dare to take it seriously."

Han Zhongjie smiled and continued, "I was just worried that you might be feeling down, so I came to see you. Duke Rong was right just now. It is inevitable that there will be disagreements and disputes when working together in the court, but it is best not to damage the harmony because of it."

"Thanks for caring."

Zhang Xu put down the teacup and said bluntly, "I thought Brother Han came to me to persuade me to deal with Duke Rong together."

Han Zhongjie was silent for a while, but finally said frankly: "After all, I can't hide it from Brother Shi's eyes."

Zhang Xu said softly, "Although Brother Han has been singing against me before, it's only because the heat has not yet come and no one else has expressed their views, so you are waiting for the chance to make the final decision. If Li Jingda hadn't suddenly jumped out, Brother Han would have definitely waited for that opportunity. As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning. As long as we can make Duke Rong take a step back, he will definitely be able to take steps back in the future. After all, he has no foundation in the capital, and Chen Lanyu has already distanced himself from him. Given time, it won't be difficult to sideline this Chief Military Minister."

Han Zhongjie looked normal, but he sighed secretly in his heart.

As one of the several important officials in the Military Academy, he never worried about Shen Yulai's position, because this person was the most loyal supporter of the emperor, and everything Han Zhongjie did in the Military Academy represented the emperor's wishes, and Shen Yulai must understand this.

Although Li Jingda's actions today were unexpected, Chen Lanyu's silence was more telling. After all this, it was acceptable.

Therefore, what Han Zhongjie cares most about is Zhang Xu's attitude.

If he could gain the support of this person, the emperor's adjustment of the military power structure would surely be more effective.

Now it seems that although this person's methods are not smooth enough, they are at least worth fighting for.

Han Zhongjie understood the key points and said slowly: "Brother Shi, it is not important whether it is a hollowing out or not. The key lies in what Duke Rong thinks. Now you can see that Duke Rong's bias is extremely obvious when it comes to the border troops, especially the land sinking."

Zhang Xu said calmly: "This is natural. After all, many of Lu Chen's generals are the confidants of Duke Rong who were promoted by him. They are in the same boat."

Han Zhongjie said with a sigh: "Lu Chen now commands a large number of troops, and Duke Rong holds great power in the army. The two of them, one in the frontier and the other in the capital, help each other and their fates are linked. I wonder what the future will bring. Whenever I think of this, I feel uneasy."

After hearing this, Zhang Xu was silent for a while, and then asked: "Is this Brother Han's own worry, or..."

Han Zhongjie naturally understood his unfinished intention, and said sincerely: "Your Majesty has never been suspicious of Duke Rong, but I think there are some hidden dangers that cannot be ignored, otherwise it will lead to disaster sooner or later."

Zhang Xu narrowed his eyes slightly and said word by word: "Don't do this recklessly."

Although Han Zhongjie denied it, Zhang Xu knew it clearly. The emperor was obviously not confident in Xiao Wangzhi and Lu Chen, otherwise Han Zhongjie would have stopped the argument from the beginning. He knew Han Zhongjie's identity very well, and his attitude was almost the same as the emperor's.

Han Zhongjie shook his head and said, "Brother Shi, why do you say that? The court has its own rules and methods. Besides, Duke Rong has made great contributions to the country. In the hearts of the border soldiers, his status is even higher than Lu Chen. He is the pillar of the country. How can we move him lightly? It's just that in the heart of Duke Rong, Lu Chen is too important. This is what I am really worried about."

Zhang Xu fell into long contemplation.

Han Zhongjie was not in a hurry either, and sipped the fragrant tea patiently.

Zhang Xu slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and said in a deep voice: "If Brother Han has any plans in the future, you might as well tell me in advance."

Han Zhongjie was delighted. He understood the deep meaning behind this sentence and nodded, "It should be so."

At this moment, Zhang Xu's eyes seemed particularly obscure, and finally turned into a look of determination.

……

In another duty room not too far away, Xiao Wangzhi smiled and said, "I know Lord Li loves tea very much, so I specially asked Lu's company to get some Bitan Piaoxue."

"Snow falling in the Bitan Lake?"

Li Jingda looked at the snow-white tea leaves in the cup and praised, "This is a top-quality product that is hard to buy even with silver. It is said that only more than ten kilograms are produced each year, and even the palace does not have much. The old housekeeper in my mansion took a lot of effort to buy more than two taels, and he complained to me about this."

"If Lord Li likes it, you can take it all."

Xiao Wangzhi took a teapot from the bookshelf and placed it in front of Li Jingda.

Li Jingda smelled the tea in the cup and said happily, "It would be disrespectful for me to refuse your kindness, Duke."

Xiao Wangzhi smiled and said, "Don't be so polite. Today, it is all thanks to Lord Li for speaking out for justice."

Talking about the previous conflict, Li Jingda calmed down and said slowly, "Before leaving Ruyin City, the Duke of Shanyang County came to me and told me that the Duke might have many obstacles in the capital, and asked me to do my best. Since I promised him, I will not regret it. In fact, it was just a verbal dispute, which is nothing. Besides, the Duke can definitely solve this problem. Whether I speak up or not will not affect the overall situation."

Xiao Wangzhi had received Lu Chen's secret letter a long time ago, and was not surprised by Li Jingda's statement today, but he was still a little surprised.

He really didn't expect Li Jingda to be so sharp that he didn't care about falling out with Zhang Xu.

Looking at the middle-aged military hero who looked a bit plump, Xiao Wangzhi said gently, "I am three years older than Lord Li. If Lord Li doesn't mind, we can call each other brothers in private from now on. Is that okay?"

"This……"

Li Jingda hesitated for a moment, but seeing Xiao Wangzhi's sincere expression, he said straightforwardly, "This is too high for me to marry, so why not?"

The relationship between the two quickly became close.

After chatting for a while, Li Jingda reminded: "Brother, Han Zhongjie is the emperor's most trusted person. He must have bad intentions. You must be on guard against him and don't listen to his sweet words. As for Zhang Xu, although I had a fight with him today, he is more upright than Han Zhongjie. But after today, I'm sure he will stand on Han Zhongjie's side."

Xiao Wangzhi nodded slightly, then sighed softly, "The capital is indeed more complicated than the border."

Li Jingda said, "In the end, it's just like that. It's nothing more than intrigues, tricks, and tricks. Brother, don't worry too much. From now on, I will take care of the affairs on the scene. You just need to hold on to your position as the Chief Military Minister and not get directly involved. Those people can't do anything to you. When it comes to commanding thousands of troops on the battlefield, I'm not even one ten-thousandth as good as you, but I'm quite good at playing tricks and bickering."

Xiao Wangzhi asked with interest, "Brother, aren't you worried that they will point the finger at you?"

Li Jingda smiled carefreely and said calmly, "Targeting me? I don't want to continue to be promoted, so how can they target me? Whether it's Han Zhongjie or Zhang Xu, even the one in the palace, it's still difficult for them to bully me, a member of the Li family, without any evidence. Anyway, I have lived in the capital for decades, and my family has a lot of connections. If I really want to fight, it's just a matter of who is more shameless, and this is exactly the only thing I am good at."

Xiao Wangzhi couldn't help but sigh with emotion after hearing this. After a short silence, he said, "Brother, why did you wade into this muddy water? Is it just because of Lu Chen's request to you?"

Li Jingda picked up the teacup, took a sip of the fragrant Bitan Piaoxue, and suddenly sighed softly.

He looked at Xiao Wangzhi steadily and said with emotion: "During the past two years in the frontier, I have only understood one truth: people like you and Lu Chen are the backbone of Da Qi. If you fall, Da Qi will perish."

"I have been a villain for decades. I don't want to be a villain all my life. I want to do something meaningful."

"That's all."

(End of this chapter)