Chapter 54 Promotion
The guests present all looked excited, but more of them were confused. Li Jing was somewhat famous in his early years, but now he was in his thirties and had achieved nothing.

Li Jiancheng's family background and reputation were flawless, and more importantly, he was favored by the crown prince. It was common knowledge that he would become an important minister in the court in the future, otherwise the Zuo Pushe would not have allowed him to sit on the seat with several ministers.

Such a person actually wanted to worship Li Jing as his master in public. They all felt that something was not right.

If Li Jing really has some ability, just win him over and use him. Why do this?

Li Jiancheng had naturally considered it carefully. After this period of time, he had also come to the conclusion that his military talent was not very high, and was just at the level of an ordinary son of a general.

However, compared with Erlang, he is far inferior, so he needs a steadfast person who can help him counter Erlang on the military level. Looking at the world, perhaps only Li Jing can do it.

After considering it this way, Li Jing's political shortcomings are actually advantages. There is no difference between Li Jing without shortcomings and Erlang. How dare he hand over his troops to him? It is best for the two of them to rely on each other.

As the saying goes, the most important thing in making friends is to help others in times of need, just like when Han Xin defeated Long Ju, Xiang Yu sent Wu She to instigate Han Xin to rebel.

Han Xin replied, "I served the king, but my position was no higher than that of a doctor, and my rank was no higher than that of a spearman. Your words were not listened to, and your advice was not used, so I betrayed Chu and returned to Han."

"The King of Han gave me the seal of the Supreme General, gave me tens of thousands of troops, clothed me, fed me, listened to my advice, and used my advice. That is why I have come to this point. It would be unlucky for me to turn my back on him, even if I die!"

Li Jiancheng could give up his clothes and food, but he could not give Li Jing the honorable position of general now, and he did not have tens of thousands of soldiers to allow him to conquer the world. Therefore, the greatest sincerity he could show at present was to respect him as a teacher.

Li Jing looked at Li Jiancheng and felt that there were two forks in the road before him. One was to wait quietly for the opportunity to prove himself, but it seemed there was no hope at the moment.

The other path seemed like a smooth one. He knew that as long as he nodded, with Li Jiancheng's influence, he would soon be able to come to the fore, command troops on the battlefield, and fulfill his lifelong wish.

You just need to become a master and disciple with the person in front of you, and you will prosper and suffer together in the future.

But it seemed there was nothing to hesitate about. He was already thirty-three years old. How many years of his life was left for him to waste?
Li Jing nodded solemnly, and replied with a hoarse voice: "Okay!"

Li Jiancheng breathed a sigh of relief, raised his head and said to Yang Su, "Then there is no reason for the teacher to sit down below and I to sit high. Please allow my teacher to sit up, and Jiancheng to stand behind."

Yang Su's face twitched slightly. He felt that he should not have celebrated his birthday. Now Li Jiancheng had become even more powerful.

"it is good."

Li Jiancheng bowed and made way, inviting Li Jing to sit on the couch. On his left and right were the Minister of Rites and the Prefect of Jingzhao. Li Jing had never thought that he would sit in this position in this way.

Then he waved for a cup of tea. After Li Jing drank it, he felt a hot and spicy liquid like strong liquor flowing down his throat into his internal organs. A surge of energy came up and made him feel a little dizzy.

Because of this master and disciple pair, everyone's attention was on them. Amidst the whispers, the birthday banquet for Zuo Pushe Yang Su was not as cheerful and lively as expected, and ended early.

Li Jiancheng and Li Jing went out and got in the carriage, heading straight for a quiet tavern, which seldom received outsiders and was where Li Jiancheng met with his confidants.

After asking Li Jing to sit down, Li Jiancheng offered tea again, but Li Jing did not rush to drink it after taking it: "If you just want to help me, then thank you."

"Master, don't you think there is anything you can teach me?"

"I may have it, but I may not be able to teach it."

"Jiancheng naturally knows this." Li Jing glanced at the direction of the palace and said in confusion: "I really don't know what you can get from treating me like this. With what you are doing now, it won't have any impact even if you are not good at military affairs."

"Master, please have some tea."

Since it was already decided, Li Jing did not hesitate. He took a sip and asked Li Jiancheng to sit down. After the two sat opposite each other in silence for a moment, Li Jiancheng said, "Yang Su has never liked my master and I. The prince currently relies more on him. Besides, the prince has no shortage of generals. It will take a suitable time to lead the troops to fight."

"So for now I can only help Master get promoted to a higher rank. I wonder which government office Master wants to go to?"

"It's all up to you." Li Jing was a little numb. It took him more than ten years to go from the ninth rank to the seventh rank, but now it seemed like it only took him a cup of tea.

Without saying much, after a moment he asked Li Xiaogong to personally send him back home, while Li Jiancheng went straight to the Eastern Palace.

On the way, Li Jiancheng ordered his servants to buy ten pieces of bacon and send them to Li's house. This was also the etiquette of becoming a disciple, and the tuition fee should not be exempted.

He had smooth passage to the East Palace, but Li Jing was almost unable to return home due to the traffic jam in front of the town gate. Upon asking, it turned out that they were all going to give gifts to his family.

After Li Jing got off the carriage, the group of people gathered around him, including some of the guests who had just been at Yang's house. They shouted warmly, "Congratulations to Mr. Li for having a good disciple."

"Mr. Li is indeed an extraordinary person. As soon as the time comes, he will have the help of Qingyun. He will surely have a bright future!"

"Mr. Li..."

"Mr. Li..."

Fortunately, the Li family also had many servants. Under the command of Madam Zhang, they welcomed Li Jing back to the mansion and then began to entertain the guests.

Except for some people who came to curry favor, the Dugu, Dou and Xiao families all presented generous gifts. Li Jing's mansion had not been so lively for more than ten years.

In the East Palace, Yang Guang asked curiously, "Does Li Jing really have such great abilities? He actually asked you to worship him as your master. I am really curious."

"Nephew, I believe I am not wrong. Uncle cannot snatch people away. Nephew is still hoping to learn skills from the master, so that he can bring honor to the family with military exploits in the future."

Because Li Jiancheng always took Yang Guang's interests into consideration, the relationship between the uncle and nephew was at its closest. Yang Guang smiled and said, "Well, well, then why don't you hurry up and learn some skills? What are you doing here?"

Yang Guang doesn't care about Li Jing now. He is just a man who can lead troops to fight. Whenever he is short of warriors, he will have plenty of them and they will take turns to lead the troops and make meritorious deeds according to their seniority.

Li Jiancheng was not polite, and begged, "Uncle, you are asking even though you know the answer. My nephew's master cannot be relegated to the position of palace guard. I hope you can give him a promotion."

Yang Guang obviously had nothing to do today. He teased Li Jiancheng for a long time before accepting the position of General Yishi. It was a general of a casual rank without any actual power, but fortunately it was ranked as the sixth rank.

Moreover, Yang Guang also hinted that it would not be a good idea to raise too many positions at once, so as to avoid objections from the court and the public. This should be done for now, and promotions and appointments would be made later if there were meritorious service in wars.

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

(End of this chapter)