Chapter 122 Yuan Ziyou (4k)
Is Erzhu Rong suffering from any serious illness?
He was one of the richest second-generations in the Northern Wei Dynasty and a guest of honor among the nobles in Luoyang. How could he want to become sworn brothers with a mere captain of the Imperial Guards?
This is a very rare thing in today's world where family background is important.
But if you think about it carefully, it seems that Erzhu Rong is indeed this kind of person.
According to historical records, the person who had the closest relationship with Erzhu Rong was Yuan Tianmu, a distant branch of the Northern Wei royal family.
Although his surname was Yuan, Yuan Tianmu's bloodline was far away from the royal family, so he did not hold a high position in the court. He just went to Xiurongchuan as an envoy to entertain the troops, and was then asked to become sworn brothers with Erzhu Rong, who had not yet made a name for himself.
From then on, Yuan Tianmu, a member of the Yuan family, became Erzhu Rong's elder brother and the second-in-command of the Erzhu Group. Finally, he and Erzhu Rong were executed in the palace by Emperor Xiaozhuang Yuan Ziyou, which fulfilled the oath of sworn brothers to die on the same day and year.
Erzhu Rong saw that Su Ze did not answer him, so he asked again: "Brother Su, do you feel that your family background is not high? This is a hero in the world."
Before Erzhu Rong could finish, Su Ze interrupted him and said, "Brother Erzhu, if you want to be sworn brothers, then do so. Don't say such humiliating words to me!"
Wow, I just finished cosplaying Liu Bei and now I want to cosplay Cao Cao?
Another one: You and Rong Er are the only heroes in the world?
There are nobles of the Great Wei sitting in the stands. Do you, Erzhu Rong, have to be so arrogant?
But it's true, Erzhu Rong was a man who was extremely arrogant. He would be very kind to those he liked, but he wouldn't even look at those he didn't like.
Another characteristic of Erzhu Rong, a military genius, is that he doesn't care about the world's perspective at all. No matter how many rules you have, can they be bigger than my fist? This kind of arrogance comes from his bones, and he will never look down on others just because of their status.
Seeing that Su Ze had agreed, Erzhu Rong rode away with satisfaction. Soon, the steward of the Jiangyang Palace came down and announced the result.
Erzhu Rong and Su Ze tied for first place, and King Jiangyang prepared two gifts to reward them.
The guards behind Su Ze cheered. Su Ze looked at King Jiangyang on the platform. This treacherous king was very good at winning people's hearts.
Yes, Yuan Yi was Erzhu Rong’s backer in the court. To be able to win over Erzhu Rong to work for him, Yuan Yi must have some outstanding qualities.
Soon Su Ze witnessed the means by which King Jiangyang won people's hearts. Not only did he personally present the prize to Su Ze, he also took Su Ze aside to chat for a while, and even talked about his relationship with Su Ze's father, telling him about his interactions with Su Ze's father when he first entered the officialdom.
Yuan Yi also met with the riders behind Su Ze and said some encouraging words to achieve great things, which made Yang Zongjia and others very excited.
In addition to Su Ze and Erzhu Rong, Yuan Yi also met with the defeated team and presented them with competition gifts.
Compare with King Qinghe again?
Forget it, Prince Qinghe should just focus on editing books. Game of Thrones is not for you.
Just as the sun was setting in the west, Su Ze, who was exhausted after a day's work, was ready to end the hunting competition early. Erzhu Rong whispered a few words in the ear of Jiangyang Prince Yuan Yi. Yuan Yi looked at Su Ze with his eyes wide open and a look of surprise on his face.
No way? General Tianzhu, you are pestering me, right?
As expected, Jiangyang Wang Yuanyi suddenly said in a loud voice: "General Erzhu and Captain Su were able to win the first prize together today. General Erzhu and Captain Su admire each other and have already discussed with Captain Su to become sworn brothers."
"It is my duty to help others achieve their goals! Someone, set up the incense table and bring some wine!"
Su Ze looked at King Jiangyang and asked, "As a king of the royal family, is it necessary for you to do this?"
Looking at Erzhu Rong again, the atmosphere had become so tense that if Su Ze refused again, he would offend others.
The servants in the Jiangyang Palace were very efficient and the incense table was quickly set up. Under the auspices of Jiangyang Prince Yuan Yi, Erzhu Rong cut his finger in front of the incense table, dripped the blood into the wine, and then handed the dagger to Su Ze.
Su Ze also cut his finger, and after the blood and wine mixed, Yuan Yi personally poured wine for the two of them.
Erzhu Rong also swore by the Heaven and Earth that he was the elder brother at the age of 26 and Su Ze was the younger brother at the age of 23. In this way, Su Ze became Erzhu Rong's sworn brother.
After the oath of brotherhood was completed, Erzhu Rong ordered the ten elite riders behind him to dismount and presented ten top-quality and beautiful horses to Su Ze on the spot.
Seeing Erzhu Rong being so generous, Su Ze had no choice but to untie the blue longbow on his back, and then asked Su to steal a newly made purple-quality gilded Buddha statue as a gift to Erzhu Rong.
When Erzhu Rong saw this purple gilded Buddha statue, which looked somewhat similar to his own, he was overjoyed. He took Su Ze's hand and called him "good brother" affectionately.
Then there was another all-night banquet. Erzhu Rong took Su Ze to toast the nobles in Luoyang. Ever since the Erzhu family came to power, they had been tirelessly supplying fine horses to the capital. Erzhu Rong came to Luoyang with his father when he was a child, and he was very familiar with the nobles in the capital.
Relying on his sworn brother Erzhu Rong, Su Ze once again gained influence in front of the nobles in Luoyang and made his name known to the upper circles.
This kind of reputation seems to be useless at the moment, but at a critical moment, it can make the nobles in the court remember that there is a person like Su Ze, which will naturally be of great benefit to the upcoming chaotic times.
Su Ze also obediently followed his sworn brother and toasted him until he was drunk, and was then helped away by Su Da.
-
The next morning, Su Ze woke up from a nightmare. When he found himself at his home in Jianyangli, he quickly called his sister Su Yuyao.
"A handsome young man brought my brother back last night. He said he was my brother's new sworn brother and gave Yuyao a lot of gifts."
Fortunately, Su Ze thought about how celebrities these days often like to sleep on the same bed and talk at night, and fortunately he was sent home yesterday.
"If Langjun is really my brother's sworn brother, then doesn't that mean he is also Yuyao's brother?"
Su Ze touched Su Yuyao's head and said, "That is Erzhu Rong, the chieftain of Xiurong. I will take you to meet him in the future."
Su Yuyao felt better when she heard that she was going to have a new brother. She looked at Su Ze and said, "Brother, when can you bring me a sister-in-law? I heard from the people in the neighborhood that you are very close to Lady Luzhu who is by the side of Princess Chenliu. Now that you have this brother, can you go to the princess's mansion to propose marriage?"
Su Ze thought secretly, sister, the Lu Zhu you are talking about is not the "Lü Zhu" who was in love with my brother. The current Erzhu Rong is not yet the General Tianzhu, and he is unable to ask the royal family to marry the princess for him.
If he really went to ask for Lu Zhu's hand in marriage, he would probably be kicked out of the princess's mansion by Princess Chenliu.
Su Ze could only laugh and said, "How can I care about my family if the Rouran is not destroyed? I will talk about it after I come back from the expedition!"
Su Yuyao was anxious when she heard this and said, "How could Rouran be destroyed? Brother, you must find me a sister-in-law as soon as possible!"
After finally sending his sister away, Su Ze calculated that it would be almost time for him to go to war. He was afraid that he would not be able to return for at least half a year after leaving Luoyang. So Su Ze took some gifts and began to visit his old friends and relatives in Luoyang to say goodbye to them.
In the next few days, Su Ze visited his relatives and friends in Luoyang. Thanks to the advice of the corrupt household official Su Suan, he was able to give everyone just the right gifts.
Su Ze couldn't help but sigh, his sworn brother is also a master in politics, he can build up his reputation among so many nobles in Luoyang year after year, just giving gifts is a great art. This gift can't be too heavy, if it's heavy, others won't dare to accept it, fearing that you will make unreasonable requests.
The gift cannot be too light. If it is light, others will think you look down on them, so it is better not to give it at all.
One also has to consider the preferences and taboos of each family. Su Ze doesn't have many relatives and friends in Luoyang, but all of this alone took a lot of effort.
Li Daoyuan, Cui Guang, Yuan Shen, all of these require suitable gifts for visits. Su Ze is lucky and has gotten a few suitable blue items before leaving.
What was given to Li Daoyuan was a handwritten copy of "Classic of Mountains and Seas" from the Jin Dynasty. Li Daoyuan reluctantly accepted the generous gift from his disciple.
What was given to Cui Guang was a fragment of "Huang Lan" generated by the system. This was a complete book of classics edited by Cao Cao's son, Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi. It was a huge book compiled by Cao Pi specifically for the emperor to read. Unfortunately, after the war, many volumes of "Huang Lan" had been lost. What Su Ze bought was only a part of the fragment, so it was of blue quality.
Cui Guang couldn't put down this gift.
In fact, Su Ze was a little afraid of meeting Cui Guang. After he told Cui Guang about his idea of New Confucianism in the Imperial College last time, Su Ze felt a little regretful. He only had a superficial understanding of Confucianism and had no intention of gaining fame as a writer. He was afraid of being dragged by Cui Guang to discuss Confucianism again.
But today, Cui Guang did not pull Su Ze to discuss the new Confucian classics, but instead discussed the literature of the Southern Dynasties.
"A few days ago, Bai Lu Cao received news that Xiao Tong, the eldest son of the false emperor of Southern Liang, was compiling a "Selected Works of Literature" in imitation of the "Huang Lan" compiled by Emperor Wen of Wei."
Wenxuan, isn’t this “Zhaoming Wenxuan”?
Yes, Xiao Tong’s posthumous title was Zhaoming, and later generations called the collection of essays he compiled "Zhaoming Wenxuan". It turns out that he had already started compiling it at this time.
Su Ze was a little dazed, and a scene emerged before his eyes. In a misty and hazy building of the Southern Dynasty, the Crown Prince of Southern Liang was walking around in Confucian robes, presiding over the compilation of this great anthology that influenced the history of Chinese literature with pen and ink.
As the earliest collection of poetry and prose in China, this anthology can be said to have had a profound influence on later generations. This anthology does not include any Confucian content from the classics, history, and miscellanies of literature, but only includes literary works of poetry, lyrics, and songs. It is a specialized literary monograph.
The Northern and Southern Dynasties was truly a bizarre era. In such a chaotic world of war and chaos, the prosperous Sui and Tang dynasties were also nurtured.
"Zilin, you have no interest in this matter? Well, you are about to go to war, so you should not be interested in the matter of revising the book in Nanliang."
Su Ze thought for a moment and said, "I heard that Xiao Tong of the Southern Liang Dynasty was a man of great literary talent. He might be imitating Emperor Wen of the Cao Wei Dynasty and compiling an anthology of literary works to carry out the practice of the Classics of Literature."
Cui Guang's eyes lit up. He looked at Su Ze and said, "You mean, Xiao Tong wants to discipline the literary style by commenting on articles? What a big ambition."
Su Ze shook his head again and said, "Emperor Wen of Cao Wei wanted to use the Classics to change the flamboyant style of writing, but writing is the choice of the times, and the style of writing is a reflection of the times. The world is flamboyant, so what's the point of suppressing the flamboyant style of writing only from a literary perspective?"
"Even the Vanity Case could not suppress the vanity of the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Can a collection of literary works do that?"
Cui Guang clapped his hands and sighed, "What a great saying, 'Literature is the choice of the time'! It's a pity that southern literature is also popular in Luoyang now. This is the trend of the world."
Su Ze had nothing to comment on the extravagant atmosphere in the Luoyang officialdom. After all, he was the sworn brother of Erzhu Rong, the organizer of the Heyin Diving Competition. Even the splendor of the Southern Liang Dynasty would be destroyed by the hands of the great general of the universe.
Su Ze bid farewell to Cui Guang and finally came to Princess Chenliu's mansion.
When Su Ze arrived at the mansion, the servant guarding the gate let him in directly. Then Lu Zhu, who had received the message, took Su Ze to the backyard of the princess's mansion. Lu Zhu said to Su Ze, "Captain Su, the prince is meeting a guest."
Meeting guests?
Su Ze felt inexplicably annoyed, and he didn't know how to blurt out, "A male or female guest?"
Luzhu was also stunned for a moment, but she still answered honestly, "Male guest."
Su Ze became even more unhappy and sat down directly in the host's seat. Luzhu looked at how Su Ze treated this place as the master and wanted to open her mouth but held it back.
After waiting for nearly half an hour, Princess Chenliu finally arrived. Su Ze said in a bad tone, "Your Highness is busy with affairs, so I'll go back."
Princess Chenliu had long understood Su Ze's anger. She dismissed her attendants, sat down in front of Su Ze, wiped her eyes with her sleeves and said, "I'm trying to help you attract business, but you doubt me. Go away!"
Seeing Princess Chenliu's behavior, Su Ze's resentment was mostly eliminated, but he soon saw the princess's upturned mouth under her sleeves, and he knew that he had been fooled by this drama queen again, so he "furious" and pounced on her.
When Su Ze calmed down, he pulled Princess Chenliu into his arms and asked, "What kind of deal is this that requires Your Highness to discuss it in person?"
Princess Chenliu said weakly, "When I meet my cousin, do I want to make Su Lang unhappy?"
After hearing this, Su Ze realized that he had wronged Princess Chenliu.
But cousin?
Princess Chenliu said softly, "The one who came today is the current emperor's companion, the third son of Prince Pengcheng, Yuan Ziyou, and the younger brother of Princess Shouyang who is going to marry in the grassland."
Yuan Ziyou?
Isn’t that the Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei who later killed Erzhu Rong in the palace?
Yes, when Yuan Ziyou was young, he was a study partner of Emperor Yuan Xu. After Empress Dowager Hu killed her son in a cruel manner, Erzhu Rong launched the Heyin Rebellion, killed Empress Dowager Hu, and chose Yuan Ziyou from the royal family and made him emperor.
In the same Wei Dynasty, Cao Mao of Cao Wei cursed the Sima family with the blood of the emperor, and Cao Mao of Northern Wei seemed to succeed, but he only killed Erzhu Rong and could not save the Northern Wei Dynasty.
But a young emperor, when facing a powerful minister like Erzhu Rong, was already much stronger than most of the last emperors.
But Yuan Ziyou should only be twelve years old now, right?
"What does Yuan Ziyou want to do?"
Princess Chenliu whispered, "I want you to assassinate the Rourou King Anagui on your way north."
8K per day on the shelves, you can see Feiniao’s sincerity!
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(End of this chapter)