Chapter 684 Human Day Banquet
The seventh day of the first lunar month is Human Day, which is a very important festival between Jingxiang and Jingxiang. It is also the first major festival after the New Year.
On this day, people make soups with seven kinds of vegetables and cut them into human shapes with colorful silk or gold foil. They are posted indoors or worn on the temples. Of course, there are also activities such as banquets with relatives and friends, and outings in the countryside.
Many things, such as traveling and working, also need to pass the human day before continuing. The period before the People's Day is collectively called the New Year, and it is a time for leisure and fun.
Li Tai also followed the local customs and chose to hold a banquet on the Hongbin Tower on Human Day, where his family members and guests from far away celebrated the first festival of the new year.
The delegation from Jiangling also arrived at Rangcheng on this day and were directly arranged into Hongbin Tower.
When they saw this grand and gorgeous building that could accommodate thousands of people gathering at the same time, these Jiangling celebrities couldn't help but marvel. When they heard the name and function of this building, they couldn't help but marvel. I couldn’t stop praising it.
After all, talents always like those who are polite and virtuous. General Li of Jingzhou was willing to spend a lot of money to build such a majestic building to entertain guests from all over the world. It is self-evident that he attaches great importance to talents. Soon, among these The people in Gangneung had the impression of being knowledgeable and courteous.
Li Tai personally stood at the door of the banquet hall on the second floor to greet Jiangling's envoys. Although most of these people came to Miobei for the first time, Li Tai's portrait had been circulated in Jiangling for a long time. His outstanding appearance and temperament allowed these Jiangling people to identify him at first sight, and they all bowed to him without waiting for an introduction.
There are more than twenty people in this envoy. The leader is an old man who is nearly fifty years old. He is the envoy sent by the King of Eastern Hunan. His name is Zong Mao and his official position is Jiangling Ling. Some of the people behind him also served under the Prince of Xiangdong, while others were just villagers without official positions.
But regardless of their status, Li Tai treated them all with courtesy. Please come into the hall and sit down at their own seats.
"I have heard about Zong Lingya's name for a long time, and today I can finally see his face. It really makes people happy."
When everyone sat down, Li Tai raised his wine glass and smiled at Zong Mo, who was sitting next to him, and said, "I'm from the north, and the customs in the south are unfamiliar. I read Zong Ling's "The Year of Jingchu" before. ""
This Zong Nao was chosen as the envoy by the King of Eastern Hunan. Naturally, he was not a common person, but a well-known person in Jiangling. His family also has a long history, and even the custom of picking mugwort during the Dragon Boat Festival is closely related to his family. Of course, there is no way to verify whether this is true. After all, it was written and recorded by their own family members. As Li Tai said, "The Chronicles of the Years of Jingchu" is a work written by Zong Mao that introduces Jingxiang's customs, customs and various etiquette.
Seeing that Li Tai was so polite to him, Zong Mo also picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. He then bowed to Li Tai and said, "A certain group of people are visiting General Li on the order of the king. They also keep their private thoughts aside from official duties. I want to I want to visit my hometown and see how it was like under the rule of the general."
Although Zong Mao was a famous scholar in Jiangling, his ancestral home was Nanyang. Many people in Jiangling are also in the same situation. This is all affected by the chaos of chaos in history. Northern famous families such as the Jingzhao Wei family, the Du family, and the Hedong Liu family fled to the Nanyang Basin and settled around Xiangyang. The original families in Nanyang continued to migrate southward and gathered in the Jiangling area.
Hearing Zong Miao take the initiative to talk about such a local origin, Li Tai smiled and said: "So according to Zong Ling's visit to the countryside, is the politics here good or bad?"
"The great general has long been admired for his prestige. On this trip, I saw endless countryside and villages, many of which are living and working in peace and contentment. It can be seen that he has the skills to promote governance. He is worthy of being a famous minister in Kansai, both benevolent and courageous!"
In such an occasion, it is natural to say good things, not to mention that the countryside scenery seen by Zong Mao and others is indeed much better than the inherent impression and memory in his heart, so Zong Mao said sincerely.
"It's not just about establishing governance! In the old days, Nanyang was politically unstable and was mostly lost to barbarism. There was no governance at all. People who left their hometowns didn't even know where their ancestors were. They looked to the north and sighed, but there was nothing they could do. Today, General Li's rule is in good order. In the old days, the barren land has become a prosperous city, the unruly folk customs have disappeared, benevolence and righteousness have returned to the countryside, and the people's sentiments have become more simple. We, those who are away from home and homesick, should all be deeply grateful to General Li for his benevolence!"
A young man in his twenties stood up from the table. Because he was so excited, the wine in his glass spilled, but his tone was full of enthusiasm and even a bit flattering.
Li Tai couldn't help but feel happy when he heard these passionate words, and looked at this young man who was about his own age with great interest. He has indeed managed the Nanyang Basin well, but this young man is from Jiangling, why is he so excited? Is it just because I went back to my hometown to visit the grave and found the right place to burn the right paper?
He remembered that the young man introduced himself as Liu just now, and seeing how excited he looked at this moment, he pondered for a moment and then said with a smile: "Liu Lang's reputation is exaggerated. It is his duty to live in the state and guard his posts. Because the people have The blessing also lies in obeying the law and working diligently. The grave of Liu Lang is also here. May I ask who is the king of Liu Nan County? "
"Jiangling is known as Xiaonan County. He is the brother of Liu Sizhen, and Liu Lang is the son of Liu Gong of Liu Jiahui in Xiaonan County. He is also a talented young man from Jingtu!"
Next to him, Zong Mao frowned slightly when he looked at the young man who suddenly stood up and made an excited discovery, but then he introduced Li Tai with a smile.
After Li Tai heard this, he nodded slightly and understood the young man's life experience.
He also knows a lot about people in Jiangling these days. Brothers Liu Zhilin and Liu Zhiheng of the Liu family in Nanyang are also famous people in Jiangling. In particular, Liu Zhilin's reputation is much greater than that of Zong Mo. He is so famous that Xiao Yi, the king of eastern Hunan, has a crush on him. Out of jealousy, when Liu Zhilin fled back to Jiangling from Jiankang, the King of Xiangdong directly sent people to deliver medicine to poison Liu Zhilin on the way, and then personally wrote his epitaph and gave him generous money and silk for his burial.
Of course, in addition to being jealous of Liu Zhilin's reputation, Li Tai felt that the main reason why King Xiangdong was a political figure was that he did not want Liu Zhilin to return to Jiangling to prevent Jiangling's local faction from gathering around him and disturbing him. Control of Gangneung.
The Liu family of Nanyang was originally a famous family in Jiangling, and the Liu Zhilin brothers successively served as the prefects of Nanjun, and Nanjun was the original government of Jiangling. If Liu Zhilin successfully returns to Jiangling, it will be similar to Liu Zhongli's return to Xiangyang. There will naturally be friction between them.
After learning about the life experience of this young man Liu Lang and observing his overly enthusiastic attitude towards him, Li Tai had some idea in his heart. He made a note of the matter for the time being and then changed the subject.
When Jiangling people go north, one of the biggest concerns is whether the people from the north will be too barbaric.
The different cultural customs and living habits between them are also an important reason for the estrangement. Li Tai's hospitality to the Jiangling delegation was also very close to the customs of Jingxiang. After all, he will also move to the south of the town next year. This arrangement not only expresses his feelings for Jiangling The respect of the visitors also allows oneself to adapt in advance.
Under the attentive hospitality of Jingzhou General Manager's Office and Li Tai, this human-day banquet was considered a feast for both the guest and the host. The only thing that was not harmonious was an autographed letter from the King of Eastern Hunan that Zong Yao presented to Li Tai.
In addition to the ceremonial New Year greetings in this letter, the King of Xiangdong also emphatically described the war currently taking place in Yingzhou with Hou Jing's rebel army. The letter was full of optimism, and also revealed a bit of contempt for Hou Jing.
After all, Hou Jingxi had a great reputation before, and even defeated the king's army. However, now that he is facing off against the troops of the king of eastern Hunan, the war in Yingzhou has become stalemate, which will inevitably give people a feeling of failure. It seemed unstoppable before, but in fact it was just because the opponent was too weak!
Li Tai also read some hints of the King of Eastern Hunan's contempt for him from this letter. After all, he not only drove away Xiao Laoliu who was entrenched in Yingzhou, but also blocked the front of Hou Jing's rebellious army. , all reflect the extraordinary military strength possessed by the King of Eastern Hunan.
Li Tai knew that Xiao Laoqi was a cheap guy who was afraid of power but not virtue. If he didn't give him a beating occasionally, his tail would be raised to the sky. But before he could think of how to hit Lao Qi next, the next piece of news that caught his eye made him furious.
The King of Xiangdong's letter stated that after his brother, King Shaoling, was expelled from Yingzhou, he not only sent envoys to Mianbei to contact him, but before Wei Ding came to plead for the land, the old man had already sent envoys to Northern Qi. And he was named King of Liang by the Lord of Qi.
Li Tai was busy with political affairs and had not returned to town for a long time. In addition, he had no eyes and ears with Xiao Laoliu, so he really didn't know about it.
Originally, he thought that this sixth man was at the end of his rope, but he didn't expect that this guy was still very wild. While accepting the canonization of Northern Qi, he sent people to come to him to borrow a place to stay. This was just to play with him. !
Although Li Tai did not agree to Xiao Laoliu's request at all, he was still angry at being fooled. He also wanted to kill Liu to show Qi, so he decided to let Li Yunxin, the governor of Yingzhou, lead his troops and Huitong Anzhou Wang Jie and his troops from the mainland attacked the Shaoling King who was occupying Qichang.