Water Margin Survival

The earth is covered with silver and white, and the sky and the earth gradually become a line. .

The first snowfall at the end of the year turned the capital of the Great Song Empire into a snow-covered world of ice and snow.Quite a few elderly people looked at the scene that had turned white overnight, and sighed in admiration that the coming year would be another bumper year.

On the east-west official road of the capital, a group of more than twenty big men arrived in the capital against the wind and snow.

"Brother, it's still too late to turn around now. Since my younger brother brought this matter up, I should bear all the consequences. My elder brother returns to Pudong at this time, so my younger brother will feel better!" Xuan Zan looked at Guan who was struggling all the way. Sheng, sighed with emotion.

Guan Sheng, whose long beard and hair were covered with snowflakes, remained silent, and his vigorous gait showed his attitude.Seeing him rushing into the city, Xuan Zan sighed, suddenly felt uneasy, and didn't know whether he had done the right thing or wrong this time, but looking at Guan Shengyi's back without hesitation, Xuan Zan found that he could no longer look back.

"Everyone keep up! Be careful of the slippery road!" Xuan Zan turned his head and greeted his followers, then quickened his pace, rushed to the front, and led the way.

Guided by this Baoyi Envoy who has lived in Tokyo for more than ten years, everyone turned left and right in this bustling city, and without taking an extra step, they came directly to the residence of Cai Jing, the prime minister of the dynasty. Front.Xuan Zan went forward to report his intention, and his own officials went in to report.

Not long after, an old man with the appearance of a housekeeper hurried over, but he was very polite to everyone. At this time, he did not see the usual arrogance of the prime minister's family, and greeted Xuan Zan: "Jun Ma has worked hard all the way, I don't know if he has eaten ?”

Xuan Zan raised his head to look at the sky, realized that it was almost dusk, and then clasped his hands and said: "You are welcome, old man, Xuan and General Guan are here to visit Lu Gong for state affairs, don't worry about hunger and fullness!"

The old housekeeper chuckled, looked up and down at Xuan Zan, and then said: "Sure enough, he is the envoy of Geng Jie Baoyi, but my master is temporarily meeting guests in the study, and you still have dinner, I will come to see you again!"

It turned out that it was not polite, and I blamed myself for being too ignorant. I don't know how many people are waiting in line to have an audience, so how could Cai Jing make a special trip to wait for him.I saw Xuan Zan laughed at himself, and replied: "In this case, the guest is up to the owner!"

The old butler led Xuan Zan and Guan Sheng to the side hall for dinner, as for the attendants and others, it was not something he considered.Guan Sheng had no interest in admiring these carefully carved corridors and verandas along the way, but followed the butler mechanically.The butler was taking the two generals whom Cai Jing had specially ordered to entertain them to the side hall, waited for the meal, and ordered the servants not to be negligent before leaving.

Facing the exquisite dishes on the table, Guan Sheng had no appetite at all and was in a daze. Xuan Zan ate a few mouthfuls, put down his chopsticks, and sat quietly with him.Guan Sheng shook his head, pointed to this table of quail feast and sighed: "I'm afraid this table will cost you a lot of money!"

Xuan Zan shook his head and smiled, and beckoned the servants of Cai's mansion who were standing by to retreat, and said to Guan Sheng: "We are just picking up leaks, elder brother, look at this table of quails, do they have tongues?"

"Is there an explanation?" Guan Sheng asked doubtfully.

"Everyone in the city of Tokyo knows that Cai Xianggong likes to eat quail tongue soup and crab roe buns, but it's rare to see crabs in the past three or nine days, so the quails have suffered. It is said that after a meal, there are three hundred. It’s for the sake of the quail’s mouth. But the two of us are not worthy enough, it seems that only the first-class guests are eligible to have the quail tongue soup with Mr. Lu!” Xuan Zan laughed at himself, he had spent ten years in Tokyo’s official circles He has known these hobbies of Cai Jing for many years.

Guan Sheng had only heard a little about Cai Jing's extravagant deeds in the past, but now he could not bear to listen to Xuan Zan's eloquence.The two struggled for more than half an hour, and finally waited for Cai Jing's call.

At this time Cai Jing was sitting in the Jie hall, Xuan Zan and Guan Sheng stepped forward to salute the current Chancellor, they waited for the meeting and stood at the bottom of the steps.But Cai Jing saw Guan Sheng, who was a good-looking talent, only saw a dignified body of eight feet five or six, with a thin three-willow mustache.The two eyebrows are drawn into the temples, and the phoenix eyes are up to the sky.The face is like jujube, and the lips are like vermilion.Cai Jing was overjoyed and praised: "After Guan Yunchang is good, the characters in the painting will come alive!" He asked again: "How young is the general?"

Guan Sheng replied: "The young general will be nine out of [-] this year!"

Cai Jing asked a few more questions, and Guan Sheng answered them one by one.At this time Xuan Zan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, originally he was afraid that his brother would be stubborn for a while, and Cai Jing's nose was not his nose, his eyes were not his eyes, but now the stone in his heart fell to the ground.After all, this meeting is for state affairs, and this person represents the dignity of the imperial court, so there is no need to offend him.

Cai Jing gave a satisfied "Yes", thinking that this person has a deep relationship with Chou Junma, and he should have similar surnames. Xuan Zan didn't even buy Tong Guan's account in the Privy Council, which shows his stubbornness.And the person in front of him can be praised and praised, if he doesn't have two or two bones, I'm afraid it's unrealistic.

However, after asking a few words at this time, I feel that this person is somewhat different from what he imagined. Of course, Cai Jing will not make a judgment on this, and then pointed out the key point: "I wonder what the general thinks about this time to suppress the grass bandits in Liangshanpo?"

"Guan has been living on a salary for many years, and it is time to serve the country with all his heart. Since he is recruited by the imperial court, he should work hard to eliminate thieves and relieve the country's worries!" Guan Sheng replied.

Cai Jing was quite satisfied with Guan Sheng's attitude, and immediately smiled with his hands on his beard, saying: "If there are as many warriors in Song Dynasty as generals, the Daming Mansion will not be broken by thieves!" After saying a few more words, he finally called Guan Shenghe Xuanzan waited for the news, then stopped talking, expressing his intention to see off the guests.

Unexpectedly, Guan Sheng hadn't said what was in his heart at this time, how could he just leave like this, so he rushed to say: "Liangshan grass bandits have occupied the puddles for a long time, alarming the crowd, the crime is unforgivable. But there are many heroes who made mistakes. , just because I was confused for a while, God has the virtue of being good at life, so please treat them differently and give them a way out!"

Cai Jing's face didn't change when he heard the words, but his eyes flashed, he re-examined the person in front of him, and said after a long time: "Who is the general referring to?"

"Pudong Tangbin, Hao Siwen, and Hebei Lu Junyi are all loyal people with outstanding martial arts skills and talents, but because of a rough life and unfortunately falling into the grass, it is the young general's duty to raise troops to defeat the thief this time. Excuse me, but these three people are really good talents in the world, and I hope that I will show them a chance!" Guan Sheng begged.

Xuan Zan sweated for Guan Sheng, it turned out that all he did before was to intercede for the two righteous brothers in front of Cai Jing at this time.Originally, they cut their robes and judged righteousness that night, but they didn't want Guan Sheng to change their original intentions. In fact, those two said they were righteous, but didn't they think everything was in Guan Sheng's mind?At this time, Lu Junyi, who also met by chance, Xuan Zan sighed, and said: "Those three people are indeed hiding something, please benefactor to find out!"

Cai Jing stared at the two men for a while, then laughed suddenly, and said, "We'll talk about it when the two of you make a triumphant return in the future, when Tokyo presents prisoners! This old man is not unreasonable. If it is true what the two generals said, this matter Not difficult!"

Guan Sheng and Xuan Zan were overjoyed. Cai Jing's last sentence made them see hope, and they immediately thanked and left.When the two of them went out, a middle-aged man came out from behind the screen and said to Cai Jing, "Father, what does Guan Sheng mean? You pleaded for the thieves before going out? I think this expedition is a bit precarious!"

"The good generals of this dynasty are mostly in the west, which is Tongguan's one-acre three-point land. If the father wants to intervene forcefully, this person will definitely retaliate strongly. As for the generals in Tokyo, they are either mediocre, or Tongguan and Gao Qiu. As a father, although he can control the state affairs and promote officials, he is somewhat out of reach in the army." Cai Jing didn't hide anything in front of his beloved son Cai Tao, and said:

"Xuan Zan, he doesn't pay attention to people who have no ability. Guan Shengde is so respected by him, he must not be a person who is in vain! And after Xuan Zan recommended this person, I also asked someone to find out. I heard that he does have some talent! From my point of view, this person has a straight surname and is not a two-faced and three-faced swordsman. Since he said it clearly in advance, it is better than acting on his own behind the scenes. I will give him a hope first.

Cai Tao nodded and said: "Father, my son has an acquaintance. He is the magistrate of Lingzhou. He also has two strong generals under his command. Both of them are brave enough to be unworthy of men. One is named Shan and Tinggui, and the other is Wei and named Ding Guo, see Ren Honzhou Regiment Training Envoy. My father always has to send troops from various states to encircle and suppress Liangshanbo. I think it is better to transfer them here as well. First, to assist Guan Sheng and Xuanzan, and second, to monitor nearby. This Guan Sheng, If Xuan Zan is single-minded, everything will be easy to talk about, but if he is half-hearted, he won't make a big mistake!"

"Who is the name of your acquaintance?" Cai Jing is 70 years old after all. It is impossible for all the prefects in the four hundred military states to remember their names. Besides, Lingzhou is not a big prefecture. Original.

Seeing that his father didn't ask about Shan Tinggui and Wei Dingguo, but about the names of Zhizhou, Cai Tao knew that he listened to what he said. Guan Sheng can't play much role, and the situation is completely different if it is replaced by a state magistrate.

Cai Jing only heard the name of a person from Cai Tao's mouth, and Cai Jing had a slight impression of this person, saying: "You said that, I remember him. Although this person is average, he is good at understanding the meaning of the boss. , I really listen to the greetings! Anyway, let him be the main one, with Guan Sheng, Xuan Zan, Shan Tinggui, and Wei Dingguo as assistants! Please make it clear to this person that this battle still depends on Guan Sheng's ability , if he has no dissent, then don't interfere with his use of troops! If he loses the battle, he will lose his face as a father!"

"Save it, baby!" Cai Tao cupped his hands and said, "Then I'll write a letter to explain it to him!"

"You don't need to go to Beijing anymore, just gather your troops and go to the state capital near Liangshan to join Guan Sheng! I will invite the officials in the court tomorrow morning, and your letter will be sent together with the official documents of the court!" After Cai Jing told his son, he meditated:

"Thief Liangshan, if you break your name and live in peace, how can I, Cai Jing, have the face to face civil and military officials? This year will be the last New Year's Eve in your life!" (To be continued.)