Qujiang Pool is located in the southeast corner of Chang'an City. It was originally a palace in the Qin Dynasty and was turned into an imperial garden during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

The Sui Dynasty built Daxing City and incorporated Qujiang into the city. The Tang Dynasty also carried out large-scale construction, making the Qujiang Pool a thousand acres of blue water and the hibiscus garden and palaces.

Wei Fufeng also knew about Qujiang Pool and Furong Garden, a grand scene in Chang'an City.

I heard that when Jinshi passed the exam, groups of people would hold a banquet and drink in Qujiang Pond to celebrate. It was called "Qujiang Drinking", and it was the most coveted event among scholars.

But when they arrived at Qujiang Pond, they were greatly disappointed. Instead of the beautiful scenery they imagined of continuous palaces, weeping willows, and colorful figures, what they saw was devastation, ruins, and the air was filled with decaying smoke.

Wei Fufeng and the two women faced each other speechlessly, while the ten subordinates just looked around curiously, without any regrets or regrets. Most of them were refugees who had experienced war, and they were also lower-class civilians. They did not have the mentality of aristocrats or literati.

"Let's go, let's go to the nearby residences." Wei Fufeng said regretfully. He didn't say that he wanted to buy a house nearby, but he was afraid that the situation of the nearby residences was far inferior to that of Xinchangfang.

...

After noon, not long after Wei Fufeng left, his prospective father-in-law Li Ji came back.

Li Ji is a doctor from Taichang and has little practical work to do, but he insists on going to Taichang Temple every day to attend the ceremony and walks home in the afternoon.

Back home, the wife, who was a daughter of the clan, greeted her warmly. Li Ji and Yan faced each other. The couple had always been in harmony. The wife respected Li Ji very much and never complained about Li Ji's unsatisfactory career in the officialdom.

But today, my wife was feeling depressed, and she said nagging: "Sir, the husband of my fourteenth mother has just arrived."

"Oh, where is it?" Li Ji responded immediately and sensitively.

"It's too disrespectful to take Fourteenth Mother out," the lady said displeased.

"Madam didn't say anything, did she?" Li Ji asked hurriedly.

The lady was startled and said: "My wife initially refused to allow the Fourteenth Mother to go out, so she asked the servant to send a message. The young man said that he was about to go to Hedong and asked to be allowed to go out with the Fourteenth Mother. My wife allowed the Fourteenth Mother to go out."

"Going to Hedong?" Li Ji frowned and said unexpectedly.

"What? Is there anything wrong?" the lady asked uneasily.

Li Ji turned his head and said gently: "I heard something recently that Xiao Langjun's grandfather captured Jinzhou..."

The lady was surprised and said: "He was able to seize Jinzhou and served as the defense envoy of the gold and merchant capital."

Li Ji nodded and said: "Father, I didn't think too much about this matter. When Xiao Langjun came to ask for the governor of Jinzhou, there was something obviously wrong. I heard that it was Prime Minister Du who recommended Xiaolangjun's grandfather to be the governor of Jinzhou."

"So, your Excellency did not give Jin Governor a history, and Xiao Langjun's grandfather asked Prime Minister Du for help." said the lady.

Li Ji nodded and sighed: "I advised my father to make friends with local forces, but in the end, I only left it to the county magistrate to deal with it. It was a mistake."

"It's not a mistake. If you capture the Golden State, you may not be able to defend it," the lady said.

Li Ji nodded and said: "You tell the young man outside to come back and please come in to see me."

The lady responded, turned around and walked to the door to give instructions, then turned back and whispered: "The marriage between the Fourteenth Mother and the young man has not been finalized yet."

"That's okay. The marriage is decided by the young man's uncle. Mr. Wei will never go back on his words for the younger generation's marriage, which will damage his reputation. Besides, we and the young man's parents have also discussed the in-laws." Li Ji replied.

...

approaching

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In the evening, Wei Fufeng and his party returned to Li Ding's Mansion. After a walk, they were disappointed. Not only had the houses near Qujiang Pond become slums, but they were also sparsely populated. Chang'an City had lost too many people due to the war.

The servant respectfully invited Wei Fufeng to come in. Hearing that his father-in-law-to-be was inviting him, Wei Fufeng could not leave, so he had to enter the house and walked to the previous living room. This time, his father-in-law-to-be was not there.

But soon Li Ji came to the living room, greeted the prospective husband-in-law in a friendly manner, and sat down.

Li Ji asked straightforwardly and gently: "I heard that you participated in the conquest of Hedong?"

"Yes." Wei Fufeng nodded and admitted.

"If we are to conquer Hedong, will the Fufeng Army be able to use its combat power?" Li Ji asked with concern.

Wei Fufeng was slightly startled and said: "The younger generation only assists the court in fighting against rebellion. It is not the main force and cannot be done. The only way is to avoid it."

Li Ji nodded and said: "I don't understand military affairs, I just hope you can return home safely."

"Thank you for your concern, uncle." Wei Fufeng responded respectfully.

Li Ji nodded and said: "Actually, you should not rebel against Hedong. Your military power should be used to protect Jinzhou."

"Protect Jinzhou? Why?" Wei Fufeng asked with a puzzled expression.

Li Ji was startled and said: "Your grandfather captured Jinzhou and became the governor of Jinzhou."

Wei Fufeng frowned, looking thoughtful, then nodded and said, "So your grandfather is determined to make progress in Jinzhou?"

"You don't know?" Li Ji said in surprise, he didn't believe it in his heart.

Wei Fufeng nodded and said, "I don't know. I have been organizing the army in Lantian County. I have never told my grandfather about the Fufeng Army."

"How is that possible?" Li Ji questioned.

"To be honest with my uncle, the younger generation is from southern Sichuan and was ordered to offer sacrifices to His Majesty the Emperor. Because the younger generation is a bastard, he asked His Majesty the Emperor for the title of Marquis of Fufeng. The younger generation does not want the family to know about the Fufeng Army because the younger generation is worried that the elders of the family will take away the younger generation.

military strength." Wei Fufeng explained.

We know that we are deceiving others, but we must confuse them, because at present we need to use strong words to confuse them.

Li Ji frowned thoughtfully. In fact, what he said about the Fufeng Army was a lie. He had heard of the Fufeng Army, but he had never thought about his prospective son-in-law. Today's words about the conquest of Hedong made him suspicious.

Weng's son-in-law's conversation did not last long. Wei Fufeng excused himself from the Li Mansion on the pretext of military affairs. He left Chang'an City before the city gate closed and returned to Lantian County at night.

After sending Wei Fufeng away, Li Ji returned to the hall to think quietly, and based on the information he knew, he made inferences. Finally, he thought that the prospective son-in-law was talking nonsense, and felt that the incident in Jinzhou was related to the Fufeng Army.

Confirming that it was related, Li Ji understood Wei Fufeng's nonsense. The prospective son-in-law was trying to cover up the situation and deliberately drew a clear line with the Jinzhou incident. Perhaps there was also a hint that Li Ji was keeping secrets.

After thinking about it, Li Ji went to see his father. It was related to the rise and fall of the family. He could hide it from his wife and children, but he could never hide it from his father and second brother. Although the second brother disagreed with him, they must unite for the benefit of the family.

In the study, Li Ji met his father who had just returned and told his prospective son-in-law that he was the military envoy to Fufeng and the military envoy to central Guizhou. He heard that he was also the military envoy to southern Sichuan and stayed behind. He took the initiative to ask his second brother to come over for discussion.

Li Ding looked slightly surprised when he heard this, and then loudly ordered the doorman to invite the second master, and then he took tea and drank in silence.

After a while, Li Xian, who was serving as Dali's director, arrived.

After Li Ji took the initiative to greet him, he said it again.

Li Xian also looked surprised after hearing this, and frowned thoughtfully. After a while,

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After a while, he asked his father: "Dad, do you think this is Wei Zhaodu's game of chess?"

Li Ding whispered: "Mr. Wei has always acted upright. This does not seem to be his doing. It should be done by Mr. Wei's younger brother."

"Dad means that Mr. Wei's younger brother used the Fufeng Army to capture Jinzhou." Li Xian said.

Li Ding shook his head and said: "There are only a thousand Fufeng troops. They may have relied on thousands of troops in southern Sichuan. My father suspected that the county government was attacked by Mr. Wei's younger brother, and framed Yang Shoubo as the fault."

Li Xian nodded and said: "What a clever method."

Li Ding frowned after hearing this, and Li Ji changed his face and said: "If this is true, it would be too sinister."

"If you deal with enemies with benevolence and righteousness, you are asking for death, let alone eradicating the wings of traitors." Li Xian retorted with great justice.

Li Ji glanced at his second brother and was speechless. He was referring to the massacre of the county government, but he couldn't argue with his second brother for outsiders. He couldn't help but said angrily: "My second brother blocked the grant of Chang Shi. What should I do now?"

"My obstruction was not wrong. Our bottom line is not to get into trouble, which is the golden mean. Wei Zhaodu asked for marriage, and we accepted it. Wei Zhaodu's brother asked for an official position, and we gave it to him. Therefore, we are not at a loss, but the rewards in the future will be less.

Li Xian argued.

Li Ji was speechless and turned to look at his father. Li Ding whispered: "My father is a bit confused. As far as my father knows, it was Yang Fugong who strongly advocated the appointment of the governor of southern Sichuan. Why did Yang Fugong reuse the Wei clan, and now Wei is the prime minister?"

My younger brother is making an enemy of Yang Fugong again."

Li Xiandao: "Father, in my son's humble opinion, perhaps as a result of mutual use, Wei Zhaodu and Yang Fugong's righteous son reached a cooperation and appointed the military governor of southern Sichuan. However, after the establishment, the two had a split in their interests and turned against each other."

"Nonsense, how could Prime Minister Wei cooperate with Yang Fugong?" Li Ding scolded.

"Dad, don't forget that Wei Zhaodu was fighting against rebellion in Xichuan, and he had the military strength of the Shannan West Road Jiedushi. I heard that Wang Jian was in power in Xichuan. Faced with the threat of a strong force, even if a few weak ones were hostile, they would be forced to cooperate temporarily due to the situation.

." Li Xian said.

Li Ding was thoughtful, and Li Xian said again: "Father, don't worry about guessing. It will be clear if you let someone go and find out. My son suggested that my third brother go to southern Sichuan to become an official."

Ah? Li Ji looked at his second brother unexpectedly and lost his voice.

Li Xian looked back at Zhengrong and said: "Third brother, now is an opportunity. You previously advocated going to local areas to develop your power. If you go to southern Sichuan, firstly, you can obtain high-ranking officials, and secondly, you can understand the truth. Only when dad knows the truth can he make

The most correct decision.”

Li Ji frowned, and Li Ding said displeasedly: "There is a war in Bashu, how can we get rid of it?"

"Dad, if the rebellion in Hedong fails, Chang'an will never be able to find peace again. It is very necessary for the third brother to be released to Bashu to understand the truth. The son-in-law of the third brother is the Jiedu envoy, and he is still behind. How can he give his father-in-law a high position? The third brother is released to southern Sichuan.

If it's unfavorable, you can come back and continue to be an official of Taichang Temple." Li Xian explained.

"The girl is not married, how can this happen?" Li Ji asked in shame.

"You can't speak. Second brother goes and talks. If third brother goes to southern Sichuan to serve as an official, he can still make up for his previous mistakes and show our closeness." Li Xian said.

Li Ji looked at his second brother speechlessly, and Li Xian said seriously: "Third brother, I really do it for your own good. You can't stay in Taichang Temple as a Ph.D. for the rest of your life and travel around southern Sichuan to get an official rank."

After being promoted, even if I get a false official position after I come back, it will still sound better than Dr. Taichang."

Li Ji was embarrassed and speechless, but he was indeed moved, but he just nodded shamelessly.

(End of chapter)
Chapter completed!