Chapter 620 General Li

Chapter 620 General Li

It was the twelfth lunar month of winter again, and the plains of Bashang were covered with snow. However, in the east of Chang'an City, there was a sand embankment more than ten feet wide and ten miles long extending from the city to the outside.

There is no snow on this sand embankment avenue, and pedestrians are prohibited from walking on it. It is carefully maintained every day. It was not until the middle of the twelfth lunar month that Taichang, Honglu and other officials of the ceremonial department went out of the city to decorate the tents and put out the decorations. A welcome gesture.

Daxingtai Yu Wentai had already come to Beijing to pay homage as early as the beginning of the month. The welcome etiquette prepared by the Secretary of Ceremony was naturally not for welcoming Daxingtai, but other than that, who else would come to the imperial court for whom the imperial court should have started preparations many days ago? ?

On the eastern outskirts of Chang'an City, more than 2,000 elite infantry and cavalry soldiers drove toward Chang'an City in a beautifully designed four-wheel-drive vehicle. The guards of honor before and after the vehicle were not the standard for the entry and exit of Chang'an dignitaries. Those with knowledge on the right side of the road saw this. You can recognize that this is the ceremonial guard for the dignitaries of Nanliang, and it is of a very high standard.

As this team appeared on the outskirts of Chang'an City, the cavalry soldiers who had been waiting for a long time were running back and forth to report the news.

This four-wheel-viewing car has a wide view of the parade, but it is really not a good experience to ride in the cold winter months. The wind is drafty from all sides, and the hands and feet of the passengers on the car are cold.

Seeing that Chang'an City was already in sight, Li Tai smiled and said to Xiao Qing, who was in the same car: "The capital is approaching, please allow me to get out of the car and follow, so as not to be offended by the people of the capital."

Xiao Jin is now no longer the King of Yueyang of Southern Liang, but the King of Liang who was canonized by the Chang'an court. At the end of the year, he specially went to the court with Li Tai to express his gratitude. At this time, he was wrapped in thick fox fur, but his face was still red from the cold. As a southerner, he really couldn't stand the cold weather in Guanzhong. When Li Tai said this, he quickly raised his hand and grabbed him and said: "In this environment, people and people are unfamiliar. Bo Shan must not abandon me!"

Li Tai didn't know whether King Liang was cold or nervous, but after hearing what he said, he could only continue to accompany him in the car for the rest of the journey.

When the car drove onto Shadi Avenue, it became smooth and comfortable. Li Tai couldn't help but smile and said: "I am taking advantage of the favor of the king today, and I can actually walk in the honorable way."

"Boshan is so humble. You have expanded the country thousands of miles and made outstanding achievements. You have won all the battles before and after. You can be said to be a powerful person in China. If I didn't walk with you, how would Guanzhong Shiliu know who I am?"

After hearing this, the King of Liang quickly said that if he had been a bit arrogant due to his status in contact with Li Tai before, but now in front of Li Tai, he did not show any arrogance at all. He knew that even his current position as King of Liang It all depends on Li Tai's promotion and his sincerity from the inside out.

No matter who this sand embankment was built for, the identity of the King of Liang is always here. Now when a prince enters the country, Li Tai can accompany him for one journey. When the official came out of the reception area, he got out of the car in advance and rode a horse to guide him ahead.

Since the King of Liang entered the court this time and needed to be treated solemnly, there were no other people inside or outside the city gate to stop and watch. Only the ceremonial officials followed King Yuankuo of Qi and came in to greet the King of Liang.

Yuan Kuo walked forward solemnly under the guidance of the etiquette officer. When he saw Li Tai in the team, he couldn't help but look at him and said loudly: "The Governor has made great achievements this year. With his own efforts, Promote the prestige of our country and marvel at it!”

After Li Tai heard this, he bowed slightly in response. Seeing that other people in the court couldn't help paying attention to him, he took two steps back to highlight the protagonist, Prince Liang Xiao.

After some polite questions and greetings, the two kings boarded the carriages one after another, and then walked down to the city under the escort of honor guards, escorting King Liang to the Royal Villa not far from the imperial city. middle.

Li Tai originally thought that King Liang would go directly to the court to see His Majesty the Emperor and Daxingtai, but he was stunned when he saw this. But it would be better to let King Liang take a rest in a separate garden first. Poor Nan Wazi could hardly hold back his nose from the cold wind after arriving in Guanzhong.

He originally wanted to stay and explain to King Liang what to pay attention to in daily life in Guanzhong, but King Qi urged him to go to the imperial city with him. Only then did he know that the court held a special banquet to welcome him today, so he had no time to arrange Liang's daily life. The king went to the court to pay homage.

After learning about this, Li Tai could not speak frankly to the King of Liang, so he could only politely refuse his offer to stay, leaving several disciples here to take care of the King of Liang's daily life, and he left the villa together with the King of Qi Yuankuo.

After leaving the garden, Li Tai saw dozens of drummers and drummers standing in front of the door. At the same time, the ceremonial officer came forward and said: "Dong Xihe has made great contributions to the country, and your majesty has specially given the drummers in front and behind to enhance the military power!"

Before and after the Northern Wei Dynasty, he advocated only three divisions, two majors, and three public rations. Although Li Tai added Kaifu, which was to some extent comparable to that of Shanggong, there was still a difference after all. He advocated ceremonial guards that Kaifu could not enjoy, and had to obtain an imperial edict. Only special gifts can be enjoyed.

Li Tai was not surprised by this reward. Compared with his achievements this year, this honor was nothing. Listening to the musicians playing and playing, he felt fresh. At the same time, he also wanted to ask whether these musicians received wages from the court or were supported by their own families?

But then he thought that it was unnecessary to ask, so he comforted himself in his heart that he should just spend more. After all, he would be a real boss who could bring his own BGM from now on.

Accompanied by the sound of drums and music, the group arrived at the gate of the imperial city. Looking around, they saw that the place was already densely packed with courtiers who came to greet them. Everyone's face was filled with enthusiastic smiles. Seeing Li Tai As the ceremonial guards came, they greeted each other with their hands and fists, making people dizzy and unable to respond.

However, Li Tai did not stay here for long. After getting off his horse, he was immediately led into the imperial city by the usher who was waiting there, and then went straight to the court.

In the court, from His Majesty the Emperor to the Grand Chancellor, the Crown Prince, the pillars of the country, and the clans and the dukes were all present. After Li Tai entered the court to pay his respects, the ceremonial officer announced the latest title bestowed on Li Tai in the hall.

First, Li Tai's title was changed from Duke of Xihe County to Duke of Taiyuan County. The explanation given in the edict was to praise his great achievements, which was his previous merit in attacking Jinyang.

Li Tai was also happy to hear the change of title and the reasons given. Duke of Taiyuan County was originally a title bestowed by Wang Sizheng. Before the fall of Yingchuan City, he changed his title to Duke of Yingchuan County. This time, he was given the title of Duke of Taiyuan County. I wonder if the court used this to imply that Wang Sizheng could not be completely loyal.

Of course, the most important thing was to ridicule the Eastern Wei side, which was naturally full of ridicule. Every time Li Tai's title is mentioned, the story of the raid on the old nest of the Eastern Wei will be recalled!

This time, the court did not increase Li Tai's fiefdom, because he had previously submitted a petition to the court to express his willingness to transfer his merits to relatives and friends. Because from August to September, Li Yunxin, who had been lurking in Jinyang for a long time, finally brought back his mother, younger brother, and five cousins ​​of the same ancestor and their respective families.

Mother and younger brother came to Guanxi naturally without worrying about their livelihoods, and all the cousins ​​came to Guanxi with their families, and Li Tai certainly couldn't let them be without assets to support themselves in Guanxi. At that time, he had to stay in Jingzhou to pacify the newly acquired land, and had no time to return to deal with these family affairs, so he asked the court for a title for his relatives by narrating his merits.

The court was also quite generous about this. Li Tai's two younger brothers were both county dukes, and five cousins ​​were each county marquis, each with a fief of one thousand.

Although the title of the Western Wei Dynasty is an honorary title, the brothers of the same clan were all ranked as dukes and marquises in one day, and the honor and favor effect was also directly maximized. Besides the title, Li Tai's five cousins ​​were all appointed as hegemons, but Yuwen Tai did not leave any for the court.

As for Li Yunxin, who rescued Li Tai's family this time, he had previously accompanied Li Tai to attack Jinyang, so he was directly granted the title of Jinyang County Duke, and together with his great grandfather Li Tai, he became the two tools of the Western Wei Dynasty to mock the Eastern Wei Dynasty.

In addition to the change of title, the next most important addition was that Li Tai was given the title of General.

The Western Wei Dynasty originally had the title of General, but that was originally a title among the two great and three dukes, the Grand Sima and the General. People like Nianxian, Yu Jin, and Wang Sizheng had all been given the title of General, all belonging to the two great.

However, the title of General that Li Tai is now, belongs to the senior position among the six pillars and twelve generals familiar to later generations. Because he is not the first person to be given the title of General, in September this year, his father-in-law Dugu Xin returned to the court from Longyou, and Qinzhou Governor Yuwen Dao was given the title of General Manager of Qinzhou, and the commander of the military affairs of various states in Longyou. His powers are the same as Li Tai's Jingzhou General Manager's Office, and he was given the title of General.

There is no doubt that Yuwen Tai made this appointment and urgently promoted Yuwen Dao. His idea was to at least make Yuwen Dao, his most valued and trusted nephew and the first of the second generation of the Yuwen family, surpass Li Tai in rank.

To be honest, in terms of merit alone, Li Tai is not much inferior to some of the pillars.

However, the merits before and after have different meanings for the Western Wei regime and Yuwen Tai. It can even be said that the position of the pillar was determined with the completion of Yuwen Tai's palace. No matter how good Li Tai, a rising star, is, he can't surpass these pillars, unless he also does Yuwen Tai.

The most powerful person under the pillar is naturally the general. There is no need to discuss who the twelve generals are to say that Li Tai is the first in merit. However, Yuwen Tai also clearly felt that Li Tai was really outstanding, so he still played a time difference and made Yuwen Dao the first general to be appointed.

Although the generals were equal in power and position, the time of their appointment always represented the depth of their qualifications. Even if it was only a few months earlier, it can be said that Yuwen Dao was the first of the next generation of the Western Wei regime, not Li Tai, although this second generation was only a few years younger than Yuwen Tai.

Li Tai knew that Yuwen Dao could not suppress him, so he did not care too much about it. Moreover, although Yuwen Dao was awarded the title of general earlier than himself, the personnel strength under his command was incomparable.

Based on this series of wars this year, there were six people under Li Tai who were awarded the title of cavalry generals, including Cui Qian, Linghu Yanbao, Liang Shiyan, Zhao Gang, He Ruodun, and Li Qianzhe. If Yang Zhong and Dou Chi, who were awarded the title of cavalry generals earlier, were added, there would be a total of eight generals. In addition, there were more than ten chariot and cavalry officials. As well as the newly expanded territory of Jianghan, there were a total of 36 states, all under the control of Li Tai.

With this calculation, Li Tai also felt that it would be abnormal if Yuwen Tai did not use some means to suppress him. This guy must not want to be his boss and wants to be his real father.

The power and influence of the current Jingzhou General Administration Office is too strong, far beyond the Qinzhou General Administration Office of Yuwen Dao. Even if Yuwen Tai used public power for personal gain to transfer Hanzhong to the Qinzhou General Administration Office, it still could not shake the position of the Jingzhou General Administration Office as the first town.

More importantly, this situation will continue for a long time under Yuwen Tai's nose, because more than half of the sphere of influence of the Jingzhou General Administration Office was fought back by Li Tai himself, and the brilliant record of attacking and killing Murong Shaozong made some people in the Southern Liang respect him as a god, and with Hou Jing's continued tossing, this reputation is expected to be further raised.

So don't talk about other people in Bafu now, even Yu Wentai himself went out to control Jingzhou, and they don't dare to say that they can do better than Li Tai. Unless Yu Wentai is willing to give up the large territory and interests between Jiang and Han, he will not be able to replace Li Tai, the general manager of Jingzhou. Even if he wants to give up, other Zhuguo may not be willing to agree.

In addition to changing the title of Taiyuan County Duke and Xinjia General, Li Tairong changed his title from Prince Shaobao to Prince Taibao, and added Shangshu Zuopushe.

Being promoted to a high-ranking official at a mere young age was originally an extremely amazing treatment, but because he was destined to be a distant leader, it was just an arrangement for the Taiwan government to take advantage of the chancellery. Even so, except for the two guys from the Gao family, there are not many people who have achieved such a position and honor at this age.

As for the rest of the advice, Li Tai just listened casually and didn't take it to heart. In his opinion, as long as he didn't go to court without following, praise and worship without fame, and go to the palace with swords and shoes, everything else was almost meaningless.

After all the rewards were given, and after Li Tai finished thanking him, the emperor stood up from the royal bed again, and with a smile signaled the ministers to go to other halls to congratulate the meritorious servicemen on their return.

A group of people followed the emperor's chariot. After leaving the palace, Daxingtai Yuwentai raised his hand to signal Li Tai to come forward and follow him. As soon as Li Tai stepped forward, his father-in-law Duguxin raised his hand to stop him.

"It's cold in the middle of winter, but my clothes are still so simple. I don't know how to cherish myself for those close to me!"

When Dugu Xin saw Li Tai's thin clothes, he frowned and scolded him.

Li Tai felt a little innocent when he heard this. He went to the capital with King Liang and was ushered into the palace before he could go home. Before entering the palace, he still asked the eunuchs in the palace for emergency help to find a court dress and wear it. So far, he has not There's still time to find a place to change clothes.

After a few scoldings, Dugu Xin took off his mink fur coat and put it on his beloved son-in-law. He pretended not to hear the laughter of the court officials behind him, but frowned at Li Tai and said, "This year's results, I have heard a lot, and I have done many dangerous things. I can no longer rely on my courage to show off my strength, but I should cherish this life for my country and my family!”