Chapter 3961: Appearance is in harmony but spirit is separate
Outside the Chunming Gate, drizzle was falling.
Cheng Yaojin stood by the window of the big tent and looked at the majestic city tower. He could vaguely see groups of soldiers changing their defenses. The dragon flag hung slightly under the drizzle. He imagined his son standing on the city with a helmet and armor, giving meticulous orders. The various units were changing defenses and guarding the city gates. They might face his father with weapons at any time, and a strange feeling arose in his heart.
Will the Cheng family one day stage a drama in which father and son turn against each other and fight against each other?
"Ha! You're so promising, you actually dare to fight against me..." With a sneer, Cheng Yaojin returned to the desk, holding the military affairs report in his hand. For a while, he couldn't calm down to review and deal with it, and he felt endless emotions in his heart.
Once upon a time, he placed all the future glory of the family on his eldest son. In order for him to have a bright and promising future, he even asked to marry a princess. As for his second son, who was dull but always causing trouble since childhood, he no longer had any hope. I just hope that as he gets older, he will be more stable and mentally mature, and will not bring trouble to the family. Otherwise, he is afraid that he will be cruel enough to drive him out of the family tree and leave him to fend for himself...
Unless he was cruel, how could the entire Cheng family be ruined in the hands of an inferior person?
But who would have thought that the good-for-nothing guy in the past had already made many military exploits, and now he had become a confidant of the prince, commanding troops to confront his father?
Although there is still a huge difference in status and status, how big is the inferiority? It was at the end of the dynasty that he fought his way through the chaos of the world and won countless military exploits. If he were in this peaceful and prosperous age, he didn't think he could do better than that inferior one.
The eldest son inherits the family business, and the youngest son starts a new family. Who dares to say that I, Cheng Yaojin, have no way to teach my son?
Even, it is not a bad idea to covet the glory of the Fang family as "a family with two kingdoms"... For a time, Cheng Yaojin was greatly relieved and inexplicably excited.
I was in a good mood. I just had a big appetite during breakfast. I drank an extra bowl of porridge and ate up a few dishes of side dishes. As soon as I put down my bowls and chopsticks, a soldier came to report that it was Zhang Xingcheng who wanted to see...
< br>
Cheng Yaojin was in a good mood and waved his hand casually: "Let him come in."
The soldiers withdrew, and after a while, Zhang Xingcheng, still dressed in regular clothes, came over with dust. He saw Cheng Yaojin drinking tea on a pony in front of the window. He stepped forward and was about to salute, but Cheng Yaojin had already waved his hand and said: "We meet in private, no need." Such red tape, come on, this year’s new tea.”
Zhang Xingcheng knew that Cheng Yaojin had always been informal, and he followed the good deeds, so he skipped the ritual of giving greetings and greetings. He also found a horse to sit opposite Cheng Yaojin, with a coffee table in the middle and the drizzle falling outside the open window, which made him open-minded. It actually feels very artistic.
Cheng Yaojin poured a cup of tea and said in a joking tone: "Deli is here, what instructions do you have?"
Zhang Xingcheng quickly raised his hands to take the tea cup, and said with a wry smile: "Duke Lu, do you want to offend me? You are the Duke of the state, you have an army at your disposal, and you have made extraordinary achievements. I will never dare to be rude."
Cheng Yaojin chuckled and was noncommittal.
Zhang Xingcheng took a sip of tea and frowned. He suddenly discovered a very serious problem. No matter Li Ji or Cheng Yaojin, they were all members of the Shandong family. They should have the same interests and advance together with the Shandong family. However, the reality is that First, Li Jiyang disobeyed the orders of the Shandong family as if they were nothing, and went his own way without paying any attention to them. Now even Cheng Yaojin is obviously in conflict with them.
Apparently, they were extremely dissatisfied with the practice of putting the generals who held military power at the forefront and causing them to suffer huge political losses in order to seek the interests of other families.
However, since we are from the Shandong community, we have the same interests and share weal and woe, shouldn’t we help each other and advance and retreat together? How can we care about the gains and losses of one family and one surname and ignore the overall situation?
Without the strong support of the Shandong family, be it Li Ji or Cheng Yaojin, their current position of power would have been greatly reduced. When supporting you, the entire Shandong family spared no effort and did not consider gains or losses. Now that they are relying on you to contribute, they are careless and perfunctory. How can this be true in the world?
In the final analysis, the biggest reason for this situation is that the cohesion of the Shandong family is not as good as before, and people are gradually becoming disorganized and working independently.
For example, Cui Dunli is a direct descendant of the Cui family in Qinghe. The power of the Yan family supported him to become the minister of the Ministry of War under the monopoly of Guanlong. However, now he follows Fang Jun's lead and stands firmly on the side of the East Palace, gradually getting closer to the Shandong family. Far...
Just like Cheng Yaojin, the appearance is in harmony with the spirit.
This made Zhang Xingcheng feel a great sense of crisis. Compared with the competition for the interests of the court, whether the Shandong family can maintain cohesion as always is obviously more important. As long as the Shandong aristocratic families are united and can one day enter the court with their strong foundation, what is the point of being dormant for ten or twenty years now?
On the other hand, if this alliance that represents the foundation of Confucianism eventually falls apart, even if it currently occupies all the interests of the court, it will only be the last afterglow, and it may not be long before it embarks on the same path as the Long clan...
But now is not the time to think about this, and it is not for him to decide on such an important matter.
Then he collected his mind and said in a deep voice: "The decision of the heads of each family is to hope that Duke Lu will block the Chunming Gate and prevent the prince from leaving the city."
Cheng Yaojin held the teacup in his hand, his expression unchanged, and asked: "If the prince insists on leaving the city, will you let me rush up and kill the prince?"
Zhang Xingcheng was startled and said hurriedly: "Gong Lu has misunderstood. We are all loyal ministers of the Tang Dynasty, how can we do anything treason? It's just a gesture. Between us, the prince is probably just testing all sides. Attitude and bottom line, as long as Lu Guogong Chen Bingchunming is under his command, the prince will definitely return in spite of the difficulties and give up the idea of leaving the city."
This possibility exists. After all, the prince has always been weak. Such a strong showdown with Li Ji requires great courage. He may not be able to persist to the end. If he encounters a slight setback, he may withdraw.
However, Cheng Yaojin ignored whether this was possible. He glared at Zhang Xingcheng and said in a bad tone: "Is this order the intention of each family head, or is it 'according to your opinion'?"
Zhang Xingcheng was stunned for a moment, his face darkened, and he said in a cold voice: "Is Mr. Lu suspected of being on both ends of the spectrum, misrepresenting the intentions of the heads of the families, and framing you? Humph! Mr. Lu is trying to judge a gentleman with a villain's heart!"
He was very dissatisfied. After all, he was also the "spokesperson" promoted by each family head, representing the will of each family head. Cheng Yaojin actually doubted his own motives and character. How could it be intolerable?
Cheng Yaojin squinted his eyes and looked at Zhang Xingcheng, who looked annoyed and insulted, with a half-smile. He grinned and showed his white teeth: "No one has been able to talk to me like this for many years. You are very brave, not bad! But sometimes being too courageous can make oneself You are in danger without knowing it. For example, there are many armies gathered near Chang'an, and scouts from each army are constantly coming and going. Your life is at stake.”
Zhang Xingcheng was shocked and suddenly changed his expression: "Is Mr. Lu threatening me?"
"Hey!" Cheng Yaojin shook his head and laughed: "Look at what you said, I obviously care about you, right? Don't be disrespectful! Come, drink tea... I tell you, this life is full of unpredictable joys and sorrows. Understand the principle of timely enjoyment. No one, old or young, is in front of the King of Hell. He may be unlucky at any time and die, even if he wants to enjoy it, he will not be able to enjoy it. ”
He poured tea with a smile on his face, but Zhang Xingcheng felt cold in his heart.
If this demon king is really unwilling to carry out the orders of the Shandong family, but also unwilling to quarrel with him, the best way is to send a team of soldiers to attack and kill him, and then lie about not receiving the order and throw the blame to Youhou Wei or Youhou Wei. Tunwei. Just as Cheng Yaojin said, the various forces in Chang'an City are intertwined and mixed. There are only three armies with tens of thousands of people. They really died inexplicably. Where can we find the real murderer?
The more he looked at Cheng Yaojin's smile, the more Zhang Xingcheng felt that there was hidden murderous intent, and he shuddered subconsciously...
Cheng Yaojin pushed the tea cup in front of Zhang Xingcheng and said with a smile: "I should have entertained Deli with a meal and a meal, but the conditions were difficult and materials were scarce, so I could only use tea instead of wine to express my feelings. After drinking this cup of tea, Deli, let’s get on the road as soon as possible.”
Zhang Xingcheng's face trembled, what he said...
What kind of food and drinks? Sufficient food?
On the road? Which way?
He did not dare to drink tea. He swallowed hard and said with a forced smile: "Mr. Lu has misunderstood. How dare I be disrespectful to you? I am just entrusted by the heads of each family to travel around to communicate on their behalf. I really can't help myself. If If you are offended, please forgive me.”
He knew that Cheng Yaojin had always been soft-spoken rather than tough, so he resolutely accepted the soft-spoken advice and did not dare to say anything about "judging a gentleman's belly with a villain's heart"...
Cheng Yaojin then suppressed his smile and said slowly: "Remember, I am not unwilling to obey orders, nor am I unwilling to make sacrifices, but if you treat me like a fool and withdraw as a stepping stone for some people, you are thinking blindly." Confused. Go back and tell the owners. Everyone, I will follow the order of Chen Bing Chunming, but if the prince insists on having his own way and orders the Youtun Guards and the East Palace to fight against me, then I will decide whether to fight or not, to surrender or not to surrender, and no one else has to say anything! ”
He is willing to work hard, hoping to get the support of various families to replace Li Ji, but this does not mean that he will not hesitate to put his Zuowu Wei in the joint stranglehold of Youtun Guard and Donggong Liuli, not to mention that there is an army behind him. The right Houwei is watching with eager eyes? If you are not careful, you will fall into despair and destroy all the foundation of your team.
Moreover, he found that those family heads had probably stayed in Shandong for too long, and could not see clearly the world situation, so they were arrogant. They were completely unaware that the changes in the world were no longer what they were like in the Sui Dynasty, and they were unable to keep pace with the times, resulting in many decisions that were extremely unreasonable. , if you follow them to the dark side without reservation, the consequences will be disastrous...
Therefore, cooperation is necessary, but he cannot be led by the Shandong Family. He must take the initiative. (End of chapter)