Chapter 424 Duke Xihe
The number of people arranged by the imperial court to greet the people this time was very large. The ceremonial procession alone was spread out for several miles on the north bank of the Wei River. Compared with the size of the procession entering the capital from Daxingtai, it was much larger. If the ceremonial procession on both sides had not been at war with each other, otherwise It really feels like two armies confronting each other.
The standards of the people who came out to welcome him were also extremely high. From Prince Yuan Qin to Prince Guangling Yuan Xin, several princes of the Yuan clan, Dugu Xin, Li Hu, Gao Zhongmi, the title Situ, and other ministers were all here.
"It seems that the DPRK and China also warmly welcome the triumphant return of the Kung Fu warriors!"
After getting off the car, Yu Wentai took a moment to look at the scene, and then said to Li Tai with a smile.
After hearing this, Li Tai hurriedly said respectfully: "Your Majesty has the wisdom and wisdom to predict the opportunity, so that the ministers and others can defeat the offensive of the East bandits again, and eliminate the great disaster for the country. These guests in the capital are sitting in peace and contentment, and they should do so." Be respectful to the Lord!"
This is the truth, but when Yu Wentai usually travels to and from Gyeonggi, such a grand welcome scene is rare. Of course, Li Tai did not dare to be arrogant enough to attribute this to himself, so he gave this answer.
After hearing this, Yuwentai did not make any further remarks, and strode towards the clan, court officials and other people who were coming towards him. After the group met, there was naturally another round of polite greetings, and then they surrounded Yuwentai and the prince. Opposite him, Weng's son-in-law, who was at odds with him, went to sit down in the nearby tent.
After all, the safety of Daxingtai was of paramount importance, and they had to wait until the Taifu guards crossed the river and entered the capital to make all security arrangements before they could welcome Daxingtai into the capital.
The tent was quite large, but there were only a dozen or so seats. There were five or six clan members present, so there was no room for Li Tai.
While everyone was taking their seats, Li Taizheng planned to go to his father-in-law Duguxin to greet him. When he was outside just now, he noticed that his father-in-law was obviously in a bad mood.
As soon as he took two steps behind the crowd, Prince Yuan Qin, who was already seated above him, raised his finger and pointed at him and said with a smile: "Gu Zanghou Li Kaifu, we meet again today."
"I pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!"
When Li Tai heard this, he quickly stepped out of the crowd and said goodbye.
"Li Kaifu is exempt from courtesy. You are a meritorious soldier serving the country, so there is no need to be so formal."
The prince looked at Li Tai with a smile, and then said with emotion: "After we met a few days ago, I told several people around me that Li Kaifu, you have extraordinary abilities, and you will definitely become a great talent in the future. If you can accumulate talents under your sect, you will be able to do it later." You will definitely become a good story when you succeed. Just because you are still in charge at that time and I am not harassed by the waiters, I don't expect that in a few years, Li Kaifu will already stand out and show his talents!"
Li Tai has experienced such a scene more than once. However, the prince's previous overtures to him were a bit of a demonstration to his father-in-law Yu Wentai, but this time it was obviously more aimed at Li Tai, with a look of regret in his eyes. His expression was probably because he regretted not taking the matter of winning over Li Tai seriously before.
Before he could answer, Dugu Xin also stepped out, pointed at him and smiled at the prince, saying: "Li Boshan is a minister who lives on a salary, and he is a consul in the country. There is no need to keep it under someone's sect. A strong man for the country is The country's fortunes are prosperous, and if he fails to do so, even if he has no personal reasons, His Highness can still punish him."
The prince smiled awkwardly after hearing this. His status was really not suitable for him to say what he just said. However, Li Boshan's deeds were so touching that he couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to take him as a confidant before he became successful. , now he can definitely become the face of the East Palace.
After a short pause, when everyone in the tent was seated or arranged, the prince looked at Yang Kuan who was sitting below and said with a smile: "Hua Shanggong, you are busy."
After hearing this, Yang Kuan stood up from the table and took an imperial edict from the waiter standing by. Then he turned to Li Tai with the imperial edict in hand and said, "Li Kaifu, please come out and accept the edict."
As soon as these words came out, Li Tai's face changed slightly, and Yu Wentai, who was sitting above him, couldn't help but frown, and then lowered his eyes, but his eyes were shining, and his eyes slowly moved towards those sitting there. Everyone slowly moved past, especially looking at Dugu Xin more often.
The edict first praised Li Tai's achievements, and then jumped directly to the most important content. Li Tai was added as a minister, a general of hussars, and a prefect of the three divisions. At the same time, he was granted the title of Duke of Xihe County and a city. Eighteen hundred households.
This kind of reward can be considered as a complete package. The Duke, Hussar, and Kaifu can be regarded as the best match for the current Western Wei Dynasty's civil and military ministers. The only shortcoming is that the food fiefdom is still a bit low among the county-level titles, but this thing is inherently empty. Since the founding of the Western Wei Dynasty, no one has received any benefits from the fiefdom.
Li Tai entered the country in the ninth year of Datong. It took just over three years. Now in the twelfth year of Datong, he obtained the highest official title from his original white body. This kind of promotion speed simply leaves the rocket far behind.
But no one can say that such a reward is unreasonable. In the face of real merit, one can only admit that it is fully deserved.
After receiving this honor and reward, Li Tai still had some doubts in his heart, because on the way here, Yu Wentai had mentioned to him more than once the issue of the reward after he entered the court. In other words, the current award result was not a decision made by the Bafu at all, but was drawn up by the DPRK.
This is a bit embarrassing. Although Li Tai deserves the reward for his merits and is fully worthy of this honor, who should award the reward is a serious question.
Although it is said that titles, titles, and orders all come from the king, the military and political power now belongs to the hegemony. If the emperor wants to turn the imaginary into reality and break the current political tacit understanding, he will have to pay a heavy price if he fails!
Although there was some hesitation in his heart, Li Tai did not dare to refuse the order in front of everyone. This is not the time to show off and take sides. I have worked hard to achieve great achievements outside. Do I have to worry about the relationship between your hegemony and the imperial court when I return to the court? Discord and contradiction between them?
After he kowtowed to thank him and received the imperial edict and sealed his life, he couldn't help but glance at Dugu Xin again, but Dugu Xin put his hand on the case, raised his fingers, shook him lightly, and tapped the table again. He said he didn't know anything about the case but thought it was not a big deal.
Li Tai stepped back with the imperial edict in his hand. After thinking for a moment, he realized that the imperial court had bypassed the Bafu to carry out such an operation. The point was not to win over and show favor to him. After all, these titles and appointments were within the normal scope. Inside, even the fictitious food fief was not given in excess.
Therefore, the purpose of the court's behavior was not to make Li Tai grateful in the first place, but to emphasize his right to speak.
This can be regarded as a relatively prudent test. There is no violation of the reward scale and procedures. Even if you want to find fault, you can't find fault and can only acquiesce in this result.
But for others, it means that the imperial court's favor does not only come from the Bafu, but the imperial court still has a lot of say in this regard.
But what makes Li Tai more helpless is that he is not the only hero in this battle. Why was he chosen to apply eye drops to Ba Mansion instead of Wei Xiaokuan?
Shortly after the Eastern Wei army withdrew, before Li Tai's troops had completely evacuated the Eastern Wei territory, the imperial court happily sent envoys to Yubi City to canonize Wei Xiaokuan.
The two envoys sent to Yubi City were Changsun Shaoyuan and Wang Yue. One was from the Changsun family and the other was from the Jingzhao Wang family. They both held official positions in the Bafu. They were completely different in terms of status. It reflects the care and consideration of the imperial court and the government for Wei Xiaokuan, a great hero, and does not say that they must use this to force Wei Xiaokuan into any political force.
The reason for doing this is simply to hope that Wei Xiaokuan will not be disturbed by various situations in the country, and only need to stay in Yubi City with peace of mind to guard the east gate of Sheji.
But there is naturally no such strategic consideration for Li Tai. The northern Shaanxi area where his power is distributed was previously a tasteless piece of food that was a pity to be discarded. If you use him to achieve some political intentions, you don't have to worry about any adverse effects on national defense.
Moreover, the planners may also have guessed that Bafu needs to heat up Li Tai to eliminate some of Wei Xiaokuan's presence and influence in the incident. As Li Tai becomes more popular, of course, the recent matters surrounding him will attract more attention, and also There is no room for any discordant sounds.
This wave was truly measured in force, clever in timing, and accurate in prediction. It not only emphasized the court's right to speak, but also left the overlord helpless. Li Tai took a peek and saw that Yu Wentai's face was a little dark, which showed that he was also very depressed at the moment.
Such a method and style was obviously not something that the Prince, an impetuous junior high school student, could do. Li Tai couldn't help but think of the unfamiliar Emperor's Yuanbao Torch, which he had seen a few times at court ceremonies.
It is said that this emperor was also known for his strength back then, but now he has no edges and is willing to be a puppet. But now it seems that no one is willing to sit back and wait for death, and they still want to seize the opportunity when they see it. It's just that the general trend is now, even if there is any clever resistance, it will be weak and powerless.
After staying here for more than an hour, towards evening, another visitor from Chang'an was sent to ask when Daxingtai would come to the palace for an audience, and said that His Majesty the Emperor had set up a banquet in the palace to entertain Prime Minister Yuwen and the victorious heroes.
"It's getting late today, so I really don't dare to enter the palace and disturb the residents. The tent and mats are all here, so I can stay overnight and then cross the river to pay my respects tomorrow morning."
Yuwentai stood up and walked out of the tent first, and everyone in the tent followed suit. However, he stood outside the tent for a moment and looked at the sun, which was still some time away from sunset, and walked back to the tent while talking. middle.
After seeing this, the other officials of the Ba Mansion naturally followed Daxingtai to pay their accounts. However, the court officials present were a little embarrassed. Some also returned their accounts again, while others gathered in front of the prince, whose face became unsightly. , there are also many who are hesitant and don’t know where to go.
Li Tai couldn't help but feel a little funny when he saw this scene. He didn't have to worry about where he was going, and went straight to his father-in-law Dugu Xin who was standing aside and watching.