Overthrow Xia and restore Zhou, right now!
[The last reign of the previous dynasty was Yongbao, and he passed away in the first year of Yongbao, so it has been decades. No wonder he recognized the wrong emperor.]
[It was also tragic after he mistakenly entered the tribe of barbarians. This tribe of barbarians is so primitive that they eat wild animals by tying them up and throwing them into the pot, without cleaning out the viscera and feces.]
The rulers and ministers of Daxia froze again.
Not out of disgust, but...if it was known that they were not the emperor and officials of the previous dynasty, they might be the ones tied up and thrown into the pot.
Xu Yanmiao was particularly nervous in his heart, repeating how Li Shihu and his soldiers subdued the barbarians and how they trained and built the tribe at the same time.
[Whatever I do, whatever I do, he is so ambitious! What if the old emperor and his men reveal their identities... Help, how can I tell the old emperor about this? Just say that I have seen Li Shihu's portrait? But I can't say it even if Li Shihu is here! 】
The emperor and his ministers of Daxia looked at the door together. Li Shihu was happily cutting meat for the old emperor. His body, as strong as an ox, blocked the door tightly.
At this moment, there was only one sentence in their minds -
absolutely, absolutely, Li Shihu must not know their identities!
And...
The old emperor's eyes moved down, staring at the meat-cutting knife in Li Shihu's hand, and paused for a few breaths.
He moved his eyes up again and found that because of his sudden pause, Li Shihu's eyes slowly changed from expectation to confusion, and he blinked in confusion again.
"I will give you a title... I will give you a title..."
Shit!
What title!
Let him hear your inner voice and then start a killing spree?
[The general of the previous dynasty is going to be an official of this dynasty!]
Hearing this sad voice, the old emperor suddenly coughed twice, as if he was choked by something. He looked at the water cup on the table. Li Shihu immediately turned around to get water and put the meat-cutting knife on the table.
While he turned his back to him, the old emperor glared at Xu Yanmiao fiercely.
You better shut up!
Xu Yanmiao had already taken his hands away from his eyes at this time, and was confused by the glare.
[What is the old emperor doing again? Is he unhappy with me and suddenly covered his face?]
"Your Majesty, the water is clean. There is a well in the tribe."
Li Shihu handed the water up and the old emperor took it. Taking advantage of the time when he turned around to get the water, the old emperor had already thought of a trick.
"...When we return to Beijing, I will appoint you as the commander of Shandong."
Li Shihu was delighted.
This is a promotion beyond his rank!
He was previously a deputy governor of Shandong, which was actually the adjutant of the commander, responsible for training the army and rectifying military discipline. According to normal promotion, the deputy governor should be promoted to the deputy governor, and the deputy governor should be promoted to the commander. Now he has directly skipped the deputy governor and become the highest local military commander of the third rank!
Xu Yanmiao sighed: [The old emperor still thinks that you are his loyal minister. Alas, what if someone finds out your identity...]
[Resist the Xia and restore the Zhou, today! ]
The old emperor looked at Li Shihu deeply.
He remembered why he felt that the name Li Shihu sounded familiar.
Previously, Shandong faked a severe drought to defraud him of disaster relief funds, and was killed after being exposed. During that time, he looked through the official records of Shandong and saw that the last Shandong assistant official of the previous dynasty was Li Shihu.
The old emperor's eyes drifted.
If it were just that, it would not be a big deal, but he asked someone to spread the news among the people, saying that there were many famous generals in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and small rebels were not powerful enough. Even a mere assistant official could kill the rebels without leaving a single piece of armor.
The young emperor at that time was very arrogant and believed it.
He sent 18 assistant officials to lead the 18 rebel kings to fight, and there were still 100 assistant officials left with nowhere to go. He heard that there were troublemakers in the Western Regions, so he sent them all there.
So, strictly speaking, Li Shihu, the assistant minister of Shandong, was sent to the Western Regions and lost in the mountains for decades. He also had a part in the credit.
New hatred and old grudges... Stop, I can't think about it anymore, think about something else! For example, before this, Li Shihu was also a deputy minister of the Ministry of Justice and attended court in the central government.
They all match up.
No wonder he knew Zheng Peng (the left minister of the Honglu Temple in the previous dynasty and the minister of the Taichang Temple in this dynasty).
The old emperor felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife.
Such a loyal minister! How could he not be his!
Then he couldn't help but add two words: "hereditary."
Hereditary commander!!!
His son was able to inherit this position...
Li Shihu's lips trembled: "Thank...thank you, Your Majesty! I...I am deeply grateful for your holy...holy grace!"
The old emperor looked at him deeply again.
Li Shihu suddenly thought of something and asked hurriedly: "Your Majesty, how is the Great Zhou now? Have those rebels been executed?"
The rebels at this table who should have been executed suddenly fell silent.
Ah, this...
The eighteen rebel kings were very powerful back then, and the most powerful one was the one in Xiangyang. Their Xia army, on the contrary, was neither better nor worse in terms of influence.
But it was fortunate that this was the case, so Li Shihu didn't recognize them.
- They were making a fortune in silence at the time. Those who claimed to be kings and emperors in advance were targeted by the court. Instead, they, a group of makeshift teams, developed in the cracks, accumulated enough strength, and became the final winners.
The old emperor took a sip of water, and when he looked up at Li Shihu again, he became serious: "I have eliminated all those rebels, and now the world has been peaceful for more than 30 years."
[It is possible, but not the peace you want. ]
The old emperor took another sip of water.
The Minister of Revenue glanced at Xu Yanmiao and picked up a chicken leg for him with clean chopsticks. Xu Yanmiao was flattered: "Thank you, Minister."
The Minister of Revenue smiled kindly: "Eat it."
Promise me that you will shut up after eating, okay?
*
Li Shihu's heart, which had been up and down for these years, was suddenly put down.
"Peace is good! Peace is good!"
He slowly let out a long breath, and couldn't help but sigh: "I don't know how my father is doing."
[Your emperor dug out the bones of your previous emperor, threw them into feces, and then pointed at the bones and cursed. Your father tried to persuade him but failed, and he was so angry that he vomited blood and died.]
The king and ministers of Daxia: "!!!"
They all straightened their bodies and raised their ears.
The emperor of Zhou actually did such a thing!
The historian in the seat moved his fingers, and resisted the urge to take out paper and pen to record. But his brain had already begun to prepare to remember.
[Let me see, what was he scolding? 】
【Oh, "Old man, you control me every day, not allowing me to let my beautiful concubines chase each other openly, not allowing me to whip your concubines - don't you like to be clean, don't you say that what I do is unsightly, I will let you be clean enough!"】
Hiss -
wow -
what a filial son! The emperor and his ministers of Daxia
were amazed.
Moreover, the last emperor and this loyal minister had a patricide!
The old emperor was overjoyed... no, the old emperor was deeply saddened.
The old emperor looked at Li Shihu and said slowly and sadly: "My dear, your father... died less than five years after you left."
Why less than five years? Because the last emperor was only in power for four years.
Li Shihu was silent, took a sip of the wine he brewed, and then smiled: "My father was 81 years old when I passed away. I didn't hold out hope that he was still alive. It was a happy death that he died at the age of over 80. It's just a pity that I couldn't fulfill my filial piety to him after all." He
couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, what about my other family members..."
Since they know about his father, maybe they also know about his mother, his wife, and his son? Even if Your Majesty doesn't know, aren't there so many colleagues present?
Li Shihu's hopeful eyes swept over them one by one, and those who were seen lowered their heads one by one.
[Your son? Isn't he sitting here? The doctor of the Imperial College next to me. Yes, after all, he has been away for more than 30 years, it's normal that he doesn't recognize his son. 】
There was only one doctor from the Imperial College present. Li Ying suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Shihu in surprise and doubt. He tried to identify him carefully... but couldn't recognize him.
He was only five years old when his father passed away! His mother did tell him what his father's name was, but after decades, who would still remember it?
"... Dad!" Li Ying stood up hurriedly and took out the longevity lock that he carried with him, which was engraved with his own name: "Dad! I am your child, I am Ying'er!"
Li Shihu turned his head sharply.
"Ying'er!!!"
He didn't even look at the longevity lock, but excitedly gestured with his hands on his knees: "You were only this big back then, but now..." He gestured with his hand on Li Ying's forehead: "You're this big!"
Li Ying felt warm in his heart and was about to speak.
【“Good brother! I’m your Ying’er’s stepfather!”】
Xu Yanmiao shouted in her heart with a pinched voice.
Li Ying: “…”
Also present, Li Ying’s stepfather: “…”
That’s enough!!!
After Li Shihu was surprised, he thought of something and was even more surprised: “My son! You’ve made it! Now you can even accompany the emperor!”
【Alas, these days, how can the second generation of officials not rely on their fathers? Commander Li, you are confused! It was his stepfather who was promising and made it to the first echelon of the founding of the country and became the emperor’s confidant! What about the Shaoqing of Taichang! Before your son became a doctor of the Imperial College, he was the editor of the Hanlin Academy. It was the old emperor who squeezed him in for the sake of his stepfather’s face. Originally, he had to be the second or third place in the imperial examination to be the first place! 】
Taichang Shaoqing pulled the corners of his mouth with difficulty, trying to smile, but he couldn't laugh.
At this moment, he was extremely glad that Li Shihu couldn't hear his thoughts, otherwise it would be too embarrassing.
——Although he estimated that he would know it in the future.
But at least he wouldn't have to worry about being thrown into soup by then.
Li Ying coughed: "Dad, this is not important..."
"Oh, yes, let's talk about something important. How is your mother?"
"My mother is fine..."
[Very fine! She remarried!
]Li Ying: "..."
Li Shihu was unaware. He and his mother have always had a deep relationship. He was afraid of hearing bad news at this time, so he asked hesitantly: "And your grandmother..."
"Grandma is fine too!"
[Your mother was remarried by your wife. Your wife is a good person. In the fourth year of Yongbao, there was chaos and war. The country was about to fall apart. She saw that the Minister of Rites was pursuing her...】
The old emperor noticed that the Minister of Rites had imitated Xu Yanmiao's behavior and covered his face tightly. He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
He didn't expect that his own Minister of Rites was so innocent. He was so embarrassed when his love history was exposed in public.
He sighed and picked up the water glass.
【She told him, "I want to take my mother-in-law with me when I remarry." So he instigated his widower father to marry the mother-in-law.】
"Puff——" The old emperor spat out a mouthful of water.
Xu Yanmiao didn't notice this. Xu Yanmiao sighed: 【Your ex-wife is really a good person. Now the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law continue to be mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and get along like real mother and daughter. 】
——Li Shihu's mother is his father's stepmother, forty years younger than his father.
Taichang Shaoqing covered his face tightly and refused to look up.
Li Ying coughed again: "My mother...my mother is very good, she remarried..."
"Remarried?" After Li Shihu was stunned, he was also happy: "It's good to remarry, otherwise she would be too hard to take care of the children and support her parents-in-law alone."
Li Shihu asked again: "What about your grandmother?"
"Grandma...Grandma is also very good..." Li Ying smiled stiffly twice: "Back then...mother took grandma with her when she remarried."
Li Shihu was very surprised at first, and then his eyes were red: "Your mother is really good...your stepfather's family is also good people, and even helped to support my daughter-in-law's ex-mother-in-law."