Chapter 21 Yang Su
This was not the result of talent and ability, but because of family background. Li Mi's current situation was very similar to Li Jiancheng's. He was the direct descendant of Li Bi, one of the Eight Pillars of the Western Wei Dynasty, and inherited the family title. However, he did not even hold an official position, and was inferior to Li Jiancheng, not to mention Yang Xuangan, who was already a general of the third rank and the governor of Yingzhou.

Moreover, the rank of the official position is secondary. What is even more inferior is the family power. Even if Yang Xuangan does not hold an official position, he is still able to look down on the court. The prominence of the Yang family in this dynasty is only slightly inferior to that of the Gao family.

Now, Li Jiancheng wants to give them another push and help them reach the pinnacle of officialdom.

Today is a day off, so Duke of Yue Yang Su is naturally at home. Today's banquet is said to be a celebration for the gentlemen and their friends, but in fact it is also a celebration banquet within the Yang family.

In this war against the Turks, Yang Su was able to defeat Duke of Qi Gao Zuo, which naturally required the desperate fighting of his disciples and subordinates. After the Yang family ate the meat, they had to share some to appease everyone and show off their growing reputation.

The three of them sat down in the side hall of the front yard. After a short conversation, Yang Xuangan was called away. As the eldest son of the Yang family, there were many distinguished guests who needed him to come out to receive them. Fortunately, Yang Xuangan was good at handling things and was able to handle them with ease.

After Yang Xuangan left, Li Jiancheng and Li Mi started chatting. Although they both had the same surname, Li, they were not directly related by marriage. His great-grandfather Li Bi was not from Wuchuan. He made great contributions in the Battle of Shayuan and was listed as one of the Eight Pillars of the Western Wei Dynasty.

But after all, it could not be considered the core of Guanlong, and so Li Mi's family declined much faster than Li Jiancheng's family. It has almost hit rock bottom, with only titles and wealth left.

Moreover, he also noticed that Li Mi didn't like following Yang Xuangan, and Yang Xuangan didn't take Li Mi too seriously. Of course, Yang Xuangan currently treated all his peers equally as his younger brothers, and he didn't target Li Mi in particular.

If they are sincere friends and want to rely on each other for support, with the current power of the Yang family and Li Mi's foundation of title, it would be easy to support him to enter the officialdom and wait for two years of experience, and then he could be sent to be the governor of a lower-level prefecture.

Apart from trying to build up some foundation for himself, Li Jiancheng had no intention of interfering too much in the court affairs to change the general situation. Li Mi, perhaps, was just a young man who was good at talking big but full of resentment.

But in the future he would become the Duke of Wagang Wei, who would compete for the throne of the world. Later he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, rebelled again and was killed. From this person's experience, we can roughly judge that he is a man of great talent and decision-making, and can be a dragon or a snake. When he finally became a strategist, he was good at planning and had a broad mind and was tolerant of others. But when he became a king, he was talented but narrow-minded, and was unable to tolerate capable ministers.

Naturally he wanted to recruit such a person, who was an excellent strategist. However, he was not qualified yet. Even if Li Yuan came, it would be the same. They were all poor people, so why should they associate with him?

But it is hard to say what will happen in the future, so we can say some cheap words now and leave it for the future to talk about the relationship between the monarch and his subjects.

Li Jiancheng stood up and poured him tea. He said, "Brother and I hit it off right away. I just sigh that your talent is rare in the world. Why do you stay at home and not join the army to show what you have learned?"

"If anyone can help, please don't hesitate."

Li Mi gave a bitter smile and stood up to thank him. He could hear that he was sincere in his words, but the Duke of Tang's Mansion was not prominent nowadays. Even if they helped him, it would only be a sinecure of the seventh or eighth rank, and it would not be of much help in his future career.

Li Mi said politely, "Brother Jiancheng, I have no intention of becoming an official yet. I would like to travel around the world to learn more. If one day I want to become an official, I will come to your house."

Li Jiancheng held his hand and said, "I know it's not easy for you, brother, but when you become the King of Jin..."

Li Jiancheng stopped talking halfway, but for a smart man like Li Mi, it was enough.

No wonder Li Jiancheng was so young that he dared to boast. It turned out that the Li family had already bet on a treasure. Yes, it was heard that the queen was very kind to this man and regarded him as a close relative. She granted him an official position and gave him gold and silver rewards. I think she would definitely recommend him to the King of Jin. Li Mi was a little envious. Naturally, he also wanted to bet on a treasure and seek the merit of following the dragon. Unfortunately, there was no way. The King of Jin was in the limelight. Who wouldn't want to serve him? No one recommended him. Recommending himself as a disciple would be laughed at.

As a result, Li Mi's attitude became much more friendly, and the two of them talked arm in arm over tea instead of wine, which was very lively.

They did not stop until Yang Xuangan brought in a group of noble relatives. After bidding farewell with their eyes, they went to say hello to their friends.

As the day approached, the long-awaited banquet finally began. Everyone surrounded Yang Xuangan and walked towards the main hall. The closer they got, the more they could smell a strange fragrance. When they arrived in front of the main hall, they realized that the outer wall of the main hall was painted bright red with spices and paint.

It’s so bright and dazzling, the Duke of Yue’s Mansion is so wealthy.

Walking up the bluestone platform and taking the handrail, I entered the main hall. It was very spacious inside but obviously darker than outside. Fortunately, there was no south wall in the main hall, only a very tall screen blocking the view. After the servants moved away, light shone in and the main hall became bright.

If there were walls on all four sides, the room would still be insufficient even if it was filled with candles, not to mention that the beauty of appreciating the moon and stars at night would be lost.

I heard that the main hall of the Duke of Qi's mansion has no walls on all sides, just like a large pavilion, extremely open and open.

This main hall is only used for banquets and entertaining guests, and no one lives there, so there is no need to worry about the lack of walls to block the view.

Li Jiancheng entered with the crowd. Beside him were Yang Jishan, who had hurriedly changed his robes, and Dou Dan, Yuan Shibin and others who had just arrived. They entered the hall chatting and laughing, stepping on the thick red carpet of Xuancheng. Before they could sigh, they saw a rosewood framed screen placed in the middle of the hall, facing north.

The brocade inside the screen was embroidered with a vast river, with warships of all sizes covering the surface of the river, surrounding an extremely tall five-tooth warship in the middle (it had five floors, was over a hundred feet high, had six poles on the left, right, front and back, each fifty feet high, and could accommodate eight hundred soldiers).

When looking closely, one can vaguely see the brightly colored flags and armor on the large and small warships, and on the Wuya warship, there is an armored general standing proudly on the bow, with a strong and majestic appearance and a dignified demeanor.

There was a large rosewood couch in front of the screen, and Duke Yang Su of Yue was sitting on it, stroking his beard and watching them come in with a smile.

The figure embroidered on the screen is none other than Yang Su himself, depicting his expedition to the south to destroy the Chen state, which was also the most successful battle of his life. It is said that the people of Chen were so awed by the majesty of Yang Su crossing the river that they even said, "Duke Qinghe is the god of the Yangtze River."

Yang Su was undoubtedly a handsome man with beautiful beard and heroic appearance. At first glance, he did not look like a general or a warrior, but more like a famous scholar from the south of the Yangtze River. However, the screen behind him told everyone about his great martial arts skills.

In front of Yang Su's couch, there was a row of small beds on each side, each with a mattress and a desk, which were obviously prepared for distinguished guests. Then there were several rows of long tables and couches on the east and west sides.

…………

(End of this chapter)