Chapter 187 How could this be an invitation to meet by chance?
Although Luo Weiran didn't say much, Fang Jie did think of many things from it. Of course, what he inferred could not be verified, and he had no reason to think that what he thought was true. The Fangu battlefield in the northwest is thousands of miles away from the imperial capital Chang'an. It is obviously a bit hasty to conclude something based on just a few words from Luo Weiran.
But what is certain is that there must be problems with the war in the northwest.
Fang Jie understood the quality of the Sui army and knew how terrifyingly lethal five thousand men and horses would be when gathered together. If he could learn more about the first battle, perhaps he would conclude that his judgment was correct.
In fact, it is on the battlefield in the northwest. Many people have questions in their minds, is Li Xiaozong's tactics of dividing his troops twice successively really correct? Is it really right to suppress the two hundred cavalry and not use them? Is the distance of five miles out of the canyon really correct? Is it really right to lead the army to attack at the last moment?
Fang Jie drank all the wine in the cup, smiled and said to Luo Weiran: "I know what to say and what not to say, how can your Majesty's wisdom be compared to mine? I stand at the foot of the mountain and look up to the top of the mountain. The scenery, and His Majesty is standing on the top of the mountain overlooking the world. There is no doubt that His Majesty can see it more clearly."
Luo Weiran nodded and said: "As long as you understand this truth, although the battle in the northwest is not as smooth as expected at the beginning. But at least we passed the Langru Mountain Canyon smoothly. The battlefield is on the territory of the Meng Yuan barbarians. In any case, Meng Yuan Yuan Manzi¡¯s losses are much greater than ours.¡±
Fang Jie said nothing, but he didn't quite agree with Luo Weiran's point of view. Luo Weiran came from a martial arts background. Although he had worn official clothes for more than ten years, his position did not involve military affairs. He was not in the court, and he did not see many things thoroughly.
The battlefield is indeed on the territory of the Meng Yuan. According to what he said before, five thousand elite Sui soldiers defeated more than 10,000 Meng Yuan soldiers. It cannot be considered a defeat in any way. But, is war more than a simple comparison of the troops lost by both sides? With 700,000 troops gathering in the northwest, how much expenditure did the imperial court expend to deal with this war? How huge was the financial and material resources spent on training those five thousand elite soldiers?
Most of the men and horses lost in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty were herdsmen. The Mongolian and Yuan court did not spend a single copper coin on them, and the herdsmen they lost were only the most marginalized people in Mandu Banner. Relatively speaking, if the imperial court's 700,000-strong army stayed in the northwest for a month, it would consume the same amount of supplies as plundering half of the Mandu Banner. If the entire Mandu flag cannot be laid down in two months, even if it is taken down again, there will be no gain in calculation. Of course, the honor of expanding thousands of miles cannot be ignored.
However, even if the Thousand Miles of Grassland of Mandu Banner is captured, this is an enclave for the Sui Dynasty. How much price will be paid to keep it in the future?
When talking about the war in the northwest, Da Quan and Shen Qingshan did not interrupt. Except for the slightly different expression on Da Quan when he talked about the battle of the Sui Dynasty to destroy the Shang Dynasty, at other times he listened to Luo Weiran and Fang Jie's conversation with a calm expression. Speaking of which, he, Qilin, and Shen Qingshan are not Sui people, so they don't have the sense of pride that Sui people have in their bones. They will not feel depressed about the failure of the northwest war.
Even when Big Dog heard that the Sui army's 5,000 men and horses were almost wiped out, he felt a little happy.
After all, he is a merchant. It has only been more than twenty years since the great merchants were destroyed.
"This news happened a month and a half ago. No one knows what the war situation in the northwest is now. After all, we are thousands of miles apart, and the time it takes for the news to come back is enough to change the war situation."
Luo Weiran said: "Maybe, the army will have captured Nirvana City by now."
Fang Jie nodded, pondered for a while and said: "This war has not been a war to destroy the country from the beginning. I think everyone knows that it is not difficult to win a war with the strength of the Sui Dynasty. But it requires It is difficult to destroy Meng Yuan like the Shang Kingdom. "
"It's not difficult"
Luo Weiran sighed: "It's simply impossible What your Majesty wants is to expand the territory."
When he heard this sentence, Fang Jie suddenly felt a little emotional. He remembered that His Majesty the Emperor had mentioned several times that all the emperors of the Sui Dynasty had made great achievements in opening up new territories. How could it be possible for his current emperor to really only defend the territory without opening up new territories? He didn't want his name to be recorded in the history books with only one sentence of inaction.
The emperors of the Sui Dynasty were all so paranoid.
¡°I don¡¯t know why, but when I thought of this, Fang Jie felt a little uneasy in his heart. This paranoia is indeed what drives people forward, but is sometimes excessive paranoia really a good thing?
At this moment, a burst of cheers from outside interrupted Fang Jie¡¯s thoughts.thread. The big dog sitting at the door opened a crack in the door and looked outside, and the cheers flooded in immediately.
"What's wrong?"
Fang explained the question.
The big dog was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but smile and said, "Come and see for yourself."
Fang Jie stood up, walked to the door and looked downstairs. I saw that the guests in the entire lobby were already excited. Many people were clapping and shouting, as excited as if they had won a five million grand prize. Immediately afterwards, Fang Jie saw the young master with red sleeves walking slowly onto the stage, pressing his hands down to signal the guests to calm down.
"Today, our distinguished guests are really lucky. You have accepted Mr. Fang Jiefang's invitation and are willing to go on stage to perform a song for you. If you are not willing to sit back honestly, I can't guarantee that you will not be able to do it." He refused to come out because of the commotion and noise.¡±
Hearing these words, Fang Jie couldn't help but be startled.
"because I?"
He murmured and turned back to look at Luo Weiran and the others, his eyes full of doubts.
He really wanted to witness the peerless grace of Xi Candlewick dancing with flowing flower sleeves, but because of Xi Huamei's cold words, Fang Jie didn't tell him about it at all. He just mentioned it when talking to Xiao Dingdian, but he didn't think that with his and Xiao Dingdian's influence, Xi Zhuxin could get on the stage.
But there is no doubt that Xiao Dingdian¡¯s words were because of Mr. Fang Jie¡¯s words. It will make all the men below jealous, and it will also make Fang Jie's name be talked about again in Chang'an City soon.
Before Fang Jie could figure out what was going on, he saw a servant in green clothes and a small cap walking over with a smile. He stopped at the door of Fang Jie's private room, leaned over slightly and saluted: "Are you Mr. Fang? My prince. I¡¯d like to invite you to come over and talk.¡±
¡¡
¡¡
There are several princes in Chang'an City. Although their status is noble, they have no real power. Among these princes, the most leisurely, rich, status and noble one is naturally Prince Yi Yang Yin. Fang Jie really didn't expect to meet this big shot in Red Sleeve Moves.
Although Prince Yi Yang Yin does not care about the affairs of the court, he is the younger brother of His Majesty the Emperor after all. After the battle for the heir that year, none of the princes who lost had a good ending. All in all, the sixth prince, Prince Yi, is still alive and well, and can live in Chang'an for a long time, instead of returning to his own fiefdom.
In the dispute over the succession of the seven sons, although Yang Yin did not obviously side with the current emperor, he was not on the side of the eldest prince and the third prince, so he was not suppressed after His Majesty ascended the throne. But because of the stupid thing he did eleven years ago, His Majesty intentionally isolated him from the court. For a royal family that once had great ambitions and lofty ideals, this was a huge blow.
At first, His Highness the Prince was really depressed and locked himself in the study all day long. It took him a full year to recover from his disappointment. From then on, he began to live a life of pleasure, either by making appointments with three or five famous literati in Chang'an City to travel with him and recite poems and compose poems. Or just hang out in brothels and boats, and have endless romance. Either he takes his family to go hunting outside the city, or he just sits by the river and fishes for leisure.
¡°His Royal Highness has a lot of money, and he is handsome and respected. When the women in the brothel met him, they were more eager and intimate than when they met their husband. Over the years, Yang Yin not only won the title of the number one gold guest in Chang'an City, but his talent and reputation were also widely spread. He has a wide circle of friends, but does not care about court affairs. I often drink and chat with my friends, and they only talk about romantic affairs or interesting anecdotes.
He also loves collecting. It is said that he has collected famous calligraphy and paintings or rare antiques over the years. The Minister of Rites, who was also interested in this way, often went to his house to play with the treasures.
Such a laid-back and free-spirited Prince can be said to make many men envious of his life.
But I don¡¯t know why, but Fang Jie didn¡¯t like him from the first time he saw him. The two of them didn't have any direct interaction, but during the examination at the Yanwu Academy, His Highness the Prince even opened an outside game to test Fang Jie's character. If Fang Jie hadn't been cunning and cautious, he would have fallen into his hands that time.
Precisely because there was no intersection, Fang Jie was stunned when he heard that Prince Yi Yang Yin invited him to come over for a chat. Immediately, he understood the reason why Xi Zhuxin was willing to appear and jump into the flowing sleeves. As soon as he thought about it, he even lost interest in watching it.
Although Prince Yi Yang Yin and Hong Xiuzhao had an old grudge more than ten years ago, because of his noble status as Prince Yi, he personally came to apologize when Hong Xiuzhao reopened. This relationship cannot continue under any circumstances. No matter how individual Xi Zhuxin is, she can't refuse the invitation of a prince.
So Fang Jie lost interest, no interest at all.
But I had to go.
"Please lead the way."
Fang Jie turned around and said a few words to Luo Weiran and the others, and then followed the servant in green clothes and small hat along the corridor to the opposite side. When he appeared in the corridor on the second floor, there was another wave below.
"Thank you, Mr. Xiaofang!"
Someone shouted, immediately drawing people's attention to Fang Jie. Fang Jie frowned slightly, but soon put a smile on his face. As he walked, he greeted the people downstairs with fist pumps. Most of the guests below are wealthy gentry and have no reputation. There are people who are jealous of Fang Jie's reputation, but there are also many people who want to curry favor with him. People with real status will not sit in the lobby.
Fang Jie is not used to this kind of scene, although this is exactly the effect he wants. And this effect was given by others, but this feeling is not good anymore.
Fang Jie was a little surprised, why did His Highness the Prince give himself so much face?
When Fang Jie walked to the private room opposite the corridor, the door creaked open. Wearing casual clothes, Prince Yi Yang Yin walked out of the house with a smile on his face, looking like a kind elder who thought he was reunited after a long separation.
"I just knew you were here. If I had known earlier, I should have sat at the same table together. If I hadn't seen you talking to the young master with red sleeves, I would have missed it. If you don't go to Gu's house, I will have no choice but to Please come and talk."
His tone of voice was gentle and generous, revealing a sense of intimacy.
Fang Jie hurriedly leaned over to salute, but was supported by Yang Yin: "In this place, it would not be fun if you took the ceremony seriously. Come on, come in and talk."
He took Fang Jie¡¯s hand, turned around and entered the door.
For some reason, Fang Jie suddenly thought of a story when he grabbed her.
"But they said that Xu You secretly left the camp and went to Cao's camp, but was captured by the soldiers who ambushed him. You said, "I am an old friend of Prime Minister Cao. Tell me quickly that Xu You from Nanyang is coming to see you. "The sergeant hurriedly reported into the stronghold. At that time, Cao Cao was undressing and resting. When he heard that Xu You had eloped to the stronghold, he was so happy that he didn't even have time to put on his shoes. He went out barefoot to greet him. When he saw Xu You in the distance, he held his hands and laughed, joining hands with him."
When this picture appeared in his mind, Fang Jie couldn't help but laugh.
It looked like his expression was very happy and flattered, but there was a strange brilliance in the deepest part of his eyes that flickered.