Chapter 387 Night Banquet
During the Lantern Festival in the fourth year of Wude, Chang'an was as lively as ever. The main roads between the various blocks and the blocks were all covered with lanterns. There was no curfew for three consecutive days on the 14th, 15th and 16th of the lunar calendar, and the whole city seemed as bright as day.

According to past practice, the emperor in the palace would also give a banquet during the Lantern Festival and watch the lanterns with the people in the imperial city to share the joy.

Li Yuanhui walked around the streets for a long time before heading to the palace for the banquet. Ten years ago, he was awarded the title of Marquis for his military exploits and was appointed Tiger Guard General, so he was also eligible to attend the banquet in the palace.

But when he went to the banquet that time, he went there early with his father and brother.

And this time, ten years later, I attended the Lantern Festival dinner in Chang'an again, and my status and position were completely different from that time.

The power and position of his position are incomparable. He is finally no longer the young man who had to be trembling and cautious in front of the nobles ten years ago.

There is no one in the world who can make him as fearful and hesitant as he was ten years ago.

Including the emperor and the crown prince.

So, I'm late for the dinner, so what?
How about a glass of wine as punishment?

Li Yuan really liked feasting, or he really liked having fun. After all, it was human nature. Objectively speaking, as an emperor, Li Yuan's love for eating, drinking and having fun was a very restrained hobby.

In fact, he did not neglect his duties most of the time. Although he often had conflicts with his sons, for other ministers, although Li Yuan was kind enough, they still needed to respect and even fear him.

Many emperors were lenient and would allow their ministers to be very unrestrained, but Li Yuan had a very good grasp of the scale and was able to measure the timing very appropriately.

He never showed mercy when it came to taking drastic measures, and of course, to his sons, that could be considered indulgence.

Li Yuan, who was raising his glass, saw Li Yuanhui entering the hall with Zhang Jian, Chang Yanheng and others, and immediately called him to come forward and sit down to drink together. Li Yuanhui walked to the seat among several prime ministers and sat down. He was surprised that he was the first to arrive.

Of course, this is the earliest, not compared with others, but the three brothers
The Crown Prince and the Prince of Jin haven't arrived yet? I came late on purpose and I'm still the first one? How can these two be more arrogant than him?
If they are really brothers, it is a bit outrageous that they are so consistent on this matter.

"I wish your majesty a happy and healthy Lantern Festival."

After taking their seats, Li Yuanhui first toasted Li Yuan, and Li Yuan raised his glass in response.

After Li Yuan drank the wine in his cup, he pointed at Li Yuanhui and said, "My son Silang was naughty since childhood, but now he is the white jade pillar that supports the sky and the purple gold beam that spans the sea, and the pillar of the country."

Several prime ministers also echoed it, because there was really nothing wrong with what he said.

Although the King of Qi did not join the emperor in raising an army and did not participate in the conquest of Guanzhong, Longyou and many other battles, he remained isolated.

But it was precisely because of his presence in Jianghuai that the Tang Dynasty initially received a lot of support.

He then advanced into the Central Plains and Hedong. In fact, his contributions were no less than those of the crown prince, but their fighting on the battlefield was not as eye-catching as that of the crown prince.

Even the opportunity for the Battle of Yingchuan was actually due to the fact that the King of Qi's Jianghuai Army had been unstoppable all the way and had gained an advantage in the early stages, and then joined forces with the Guanzhong army, giving them a chance to conquer the Central Plains in one battle.

The most crucial thing is that Jianghuai under the rule of King Qi was responsible for the logistical supply during the entire Battle of Yingchuan. Without this, how could they have confronted the elite troops of Dayan for two months and achieved the final victory?

Guanzhong was extremely poor at that time, and it was even difficult to send troops to launch a feint attack on Tongguan. It was not because they had no soldiers, but because they had no food.

Including the subsequent capture of Jinyang, the military commander was Crown Prince Li Er, but the logistical supply arrangements were almost entirely handled by Li Yuanhui.

Saying it is half Xiao He, there is absolutely no problem.

The main reasons why Li San was the first meritorious official of Yuanmou were, first, the order of seniority, and second, Li San represented the Yuancong faction.

Among the three brothers of the Li family, Li Er is from the Lianglong faction, but he is also closely connected with the Yuancong faction and the Guanzhong faction. Li San is from the Yuancong faction, and his base is highly overlapped with Li Yuan himself, but his Jingzhou faction has not formed a power.

Li Si is naturally from the Jianghuai faction. Now his base is gradually expanding to the Central Plains and even Luoyang.

Even now Li Yuan actually didn't know that after Li Yuan, the King of Qi, got the post of Grand Chancellor of the East Shaanxi Road and the Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of Guandong from him, his influence in various parts of the Central Plains was actually enough to give Chang'an a headache.

But Li Yuan felt that Li Yuanhui's current deputy, General of the Right Guard Li Sixing, was his confidant, and the Governor of Yanzhou and the Governor of Northern Yuzhou were both his people. There were also many Xianbei nobles and Han families in Luoyang who gave him a headache. Under such circumstances, he was still very confident about the situation in Guandong.

But what he didn't know was that Li Sixing was now basically half of the Qi Wang Party. When it came to winning people's hearts, his Silang's methods were no worse than his.

While they were drinking, the Crown Prince and Prince of Jin arrived soon after, and the scene was also very lively.

Later, Li Yuan felt that drinking and watching singing and dancing was a bit boring, so he wanted to watch sumo wrestling. After that, he ordered someone to summon a giant man to the hall.

In fact, this activity has existed since the Spring and Autumn Period. The "Book of Han: Criminal Law" records: "After the Spring and Autumn Period, the weak were conquered and the Warring States period began. The ritual of military training was slightly increased and used as entertainment to show off. However, the Qin Dynasty changed the name to Jiaodi, and the ritual of the former kings was lost in the entertainment."

So this can also be considered a kind of martial arts.

"There is a strong man in the palace recently, his name is Shedugan, he has never met an opponent in sumo wrestling among the imperial guards."

As he was speaking, a nine-foot-tall, huge man with a broad back and strong arms came into the hall, wearing a short collar like the one worn by sumo wrestlers. This man had a strong face and a beard, and even in winter, his chest was bare, and you could see the hair on his chest.

"Greetings to Your Majesty."

Just as everyone was exclaiming in unison that this man was so majestic, Li Yuan changed the subject and said, "King Qi, do you have any warriors who are good at sumo wrestling?"

Li Yuanhui frowned after hearing this, thinking to himself that he knew he was up to no good. Then he said, "The soldiers under my command are good at archery, horse riding and shooting, but not so good at sumo wrestling."

It was obvious that Li Yuanhui didn't want his men to go up and wrestle sumo. There was nothing to be praised for winning, but it would be embarrassing if they lost.

But some people just like to make trouble. "Brother Wang, I see that all your men are warriors. Don't they even know how to sumo?"

King Wei Li Xiaozheng said this with some sarcasm.

Li Yuanhui said with some disdain: "Of course they are not good at sumo, but they are all good at killing the enemy in battle."

Li Xiaozheng's face darkened when he heard this. He then looked in Li Yuan's direction and said, "Aye just wanted to watch sumo. Your refusal is a bit disappointing, isn't it?"

After hearing this, Li Yuanhui was also a little angry. He thought to himself that this kid was quite good at taking advantage of the situation. This remark directly put him in a difficult position.

At this time, Jin Wang Li Xuanqing also advised: "Silang, it's just a game, don't take it seriously." After saying that, he gave him a look. Li Yuanhui said helplessly: "Although there are no talents who are good at sumo in my house, there are several strong Wang Fobao, come to the palace."

Wang Fobao, the right guard of the Prince of Qi's palace who was waiting outside the palace, came over in response. His huge and strong body was as big as a mountain.

"What do you want, Your Highness?"

After Wang Fobao entered the hall, he did not greet Li Yuan first, but directly clasped his fists and asked about his master, the King of Qi.

"Your Majesty wants to watch sumo wrestling. What are you doing with this guy? Let's have a sparring match."

(End of this chapter)