Chapter 53 Li Jing
People in this era were still quite particular and treated their sponsors with great respect. During every festival and birthday, the carriages coming to congratulate Li Jiancheng and present gifts could be lined up from Tongyifang to Chongdefang in front of the Duke of Tang's mansion.

There were all kinds of people. The wealthy gave valuable gifts, while the poor gave a painting or rice and vegetables they grew themselves, all of which were tokens of their heartfelt gratitude.

Some people envied him, while others felt that Li Jiancheng lowered his status, did not work hard to seek an official position, and spent all day drinking and feasting, reciting poems and composing essays, which was a waste of his great reputation.

After celebrating the New Year in great joy and excitement, it was the third year of Renshou. The emperor was very old and even gave up on himself, to the point of torturing his own body.

Crown Prince Yang Guang naturally added fuel to the flames. Concubine Chen took charge of all the power in the harem, which naturally included the emperor's diet. From time to time, she would add some aphrodisiacs, which made the emperor exhausted and aged faster.

It is said that the emperor would sometimes go to the queen's bedroom and sit there for a long time...

At the same time, the most uneasy person was the King of Han. He reported that the Turks would surely rise again in the future, and it was advisable to strengthen military preparations to avoid being caught off guard in the future. The emperor agreed, and the King of Han conscripted a large number of craftsmen in the vassal state to serve, build weapons, and recruit desperate criminals. There were nearly tens of thousands of retainers in the palace...

Yang Su, Li Yuan and others tried their best to remonstrate with the emperor, but the emperor did not withdraw his order and continued to let the King of Han go.

However, the emperor inevitably had to hand over more power to the prince due to his poor health and mental state, which was something that Liu Shu and others could not stop.

On this day, Li Jiancheng went to the Duke of Yue's mansion to celebrate Yang Su's birthday. In front of the mansion gate, he met a man who called out, "Brother Yao, wait for a moment."

The man looked to be in his early thirties, tall and strong with a sturdy figure. He was Han Qinhu's nephew, Li Jing, the son of the Longxi Li family. He was now a seventh-rank palace official, in charge of all offerings.

Li Jing stood still helplessly. He was not willing to have any contact with Li Jiancheng because the comparison would make him look like a failure.

"Jiancheng, although I am a lowly official, I am still of the same generation as your father. You call me brother..."

"What's the big deal? If we really talk about age, I don't know how many people I would have to call uncles and great-grandfathers. Since we're out here, it's more comfortable for us to talk to each other."

When he entered the mansion with Li Jing, the steward of the Duke of Yue's mansion came over to greet him attentively. He ignored Li Jing and bowed respectfully, saying, "Mr. Li, please walk a few steps slowly. My eldest son has just escorted Mr. Pei in. He will come out to greet you."

Li Jiancheng said, "It's okay. You come to my house quite often. I can go directly to see Mr. Yang."

Walking into the main hall of Yang Mansion, just like in the past, when someone saw Li Jiancheng, they stood up and came over to greet him. All the guests in the hall stood up unconsciously to greet him. Only Zuo Pushe Yang Su and a few old men sitting on the bed in front of him were still sitting upright, but there was some complicated expression in their eyes.

Li Jiancheng smiled and bowed to everyone. He was too late to recognize the people in front of him. All he saw were smiling faces and mouths opening and closing constantly.

Li Jing had already avoided it silently. Even when he was young and most proud, the Minister of Personnel and Yang Su, who was the Right Prime Minister at the time, had praised him as a talent who could assist the king and said he would definitely sit in the most powerful position among the ministers.

Even then, I had never been treated like this before.

Now, more than ten years have passed, but he is still hesitating where he is and has become a laughing stock among the nobles.

After much difficulty, he walked through the crowd and came to Yang Su, bowing: "May Mr. Yang be as constant as the moon, as rising as the sun, and as long-lived as the Nanshan Mountain."

"Okay, okay, then I'll take advantage of your good words and please sit down."

Li Jiancheng greeted those people and then sat down on the couch without any hesitation. His jet-black hair exuded youthful vigor and his tall body made him particularly conspicuous among the gray-haired old ministers of the country.

Pei Song, the Minister of Rites, who was sitting next to him, asked, "It seems that Duke Tang has not returned to the capital yet." "Yes, General Changsun and Khan Qimin need a lot of supplies and food. Even if they are not short of livestock, this trip will take quite a long time."

Yang Su couldn't help but look at Li Jiancheng again. How long had it been?
He was very afraid of this little wolf cub, not for himself, but for his sons. Xuangan was a very good heir. He originally thought that even if he died, Yang Xuangan could take over the Yang family and continue to be prominent in the court.

He was both civil and military, and had learned the true skills of leading troops in battles, but at this time he had a premonition that Yang Xuangan could not win.

Yang Su couldn't help but regret in his heart, but it was too late.

Li Jiancheng had no mind to care about what Yang Su was thinking now. In his eyes, Yang Su was already a dead man who was still breathing. After Yang Guang ascended the throne, it would be the time when he would not even be able to breathe.

By then he will settle the matter of the past.

Now he is mainly thinking about how to tame Li Jing, this stubborn donkey. Yes, our future military god of the Tang Dynasty is a very upright person. As talented as he is in military affairs, he is as stupid in politics, at least that is the case for now.

The reason why Li Jing had such a family background and ended up in such a state was first of all because of his elder brother, Li Yaowang, Duke of Yongkang, who was the commander-in-chief of Shuozhou Road in the 20th year of Kaihuang and suffered a defeat in a battle with the Turks, resulting in more than 10,000 casualties.

Li Yaowang was demoted to a commoner, and the entire Li family was punished. It became even more difficult for Li Jing, who had a poor career to begin with, to get promoted.

Then there is our Zuo Pushe. He praised people for being so ruthless in the past, and then he suppressed them with all means. He said in front of Yang Guang that the Longxi Li family was the confidants of the King of Han...

Then it is his own reason. There are many good horses but few good horse trainers. There is nothing wrong with being arrogant because of one's talent, but the situation is already bad and if one is unwilling to bow his head and seek a way out, he will inevitably run into obstacles everywhere.

Even the military genius Han Xin had to endure the humiliation of being kicked in the crotch, let alone others.

The others did not dare to help Yang Su due to his power. Li Jiancheng was willing to help, but he refused. He thought that as long as he had the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities, he would stand out and would not need to rely on younger generations.

However, he forgot that what the current court lacked the most was people who knew how to fight wars, and it would never be his turn as a seventh-rank official to lead troops into battle.

When Li Jing came with everyone else to celebrate the birthday, Yang Su was still praising him, saying that his talents were unmatched in the court. Li Jing's face turned red, and some of the guests next to him actually laughed.

This laughter seemed to be contagious, and everyone started laughing. The hahahaha sound spread from inside the hall to outside, and even the beggars on the street couldn't help guessing.

There are so many delicious foods to eat and so many beautiful women to look at here. Otherwise, how can people be so happy?

"Dong dong dong."

Li Jiancheng calmly tapped the table with his knuckles in a rhythmic manner. Gradually, everyone stopped smiling and looked at him in confusion. Li Jiancheng waited until there was no sound and then he slowly said, "Pharmacist Li, you are indeed a great man!"

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, Li Jiancheng stood up and saluted solemnly to the stunned Li Jing, saying: "If you don't mind, I would like to take you as my teacher and learn the tactics of war."

...............

(End of this chapter)