Chapter 2772 and the Coming Ceremony
The prince did not come alone, he brought a lot of people to welcome the emperor.
The father and son successfully met at the gate of Taiyuan City and entered Taiyuan City together to rest.
Manbao and his friends had just passed through Taiyuan in a hurry the last time, but this time they would stay here for one more day, so they settled down. The three of them then made an appointment to go shopping together.
Liu Huan also invited Zhou Liru to join in the fun.
Bai Erlang wanted to bring some local specialties back to Mingda, so he was particularly keen on visiting the stalls and shops here.
Manbao followed behind him and watched with great interest. The most representative local specialties are usually food.
So in the end, Bai Erlang didn't buy anything good, but Manbao and Bai Shan followed behind and ate a lot of food.
Bai Erlang looked at their stomachs and asked Bai Shan, "Your injury healed so quickly?"
Bai Shan said calmly, "I'm young, in good health, and I'll recover quickly."
At this time, Qibi Heli was also saying to Ashina and the others, "I have never felt old, but after this battle I do feel old, not as old as those young people."
A general laughed and said, "General Qibi, why do you say that? You are a famous and brave general of our Great Jin."
Qibi Heli shook his head and said, "Let's not talk about Xue Gui, the new noble in the army, let's talk about Bai Shan, a civil official. He was shot by two arrows, but he recovered faster than me."
Then a general said quickly: "He is young, why bother to compare with him?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell silent. Even the usually steady General Ashina couldn't help but glance at the other party.
The general finally realized what was happening and rubbed his nose, saying, "That's not what I meant. I meant that Lord Bai is younger than the rest of us, and I heard he's still underage. Young men of this age recover the fastest. Back when I was in my teens and twenties, I got a gash on my chest. I didn't have the medical skills of Imperial Physician Zhou. They just gave me some meds and I was back in action in less than ten days. That gash cut to the bone."
"What's the big deal? I was shot in the chest. I broke the arrow and was able to turn around and kill the enemy in a moment."
So General Qibi Heli's sigh turned into the generals' reminiscing about the past and showing off.
As a general, every scar on your body is a manifestation of your achievements as long as the battle is not lost.
General Qibi Heli curled his lips, turned around and pulled Ashina, who hadn't joined the conversation, and said, "I don't know who mentioned it, but Bai Shan's birthday has passed, and he's come of age. What do you think I should give him as a coming-of-age gift?"
An official from the capital was curious, "Why did General Qibi think of giving a gift to Lord Bai?"
He accompanied the prince to welcome the emperor and had no idea what was happening on the battlefield.
Qibi Heli sighed and said, "This time, it's all thanks to Lord Bai. If he hadn't pulled me back, those two arrows would have hit me."
"This is a life-saving grace."
Ashina said, "Master Bai also said that you saved his life. I think the two of you can just cancel each other out."
Qibi Heli: ...
Having said that, General Qibi Heli still paid attention to various things, thinking about what would be a good gift for Bai Shan as a coming-of-age gift.
If the leader likes something, the subordinates will like it even more. So General Qibi's subordinates searched for good things everywhere. As long as they heard that there was something good, they would immediately pay money to go and see it. If they found it suitable, they would buy it and give it to General Qibi.
He made such a big fuss that even the emperor and the crown prince knew about it.
The emperor summoned him and asked, "What are you doing? You are ruining the good reputation we earned during the Eastern Expedition."
When General Qibi heard this, he immediately said, "I paid for it. Those merchants have to sell their goods. I like some of them. I didn't take them by force, nor did I force them to buy them. Why can't I do that?"
The emperor asked angrily, "Where did you get so much money?"
General Qibi said nothing.
The emperor then said earnestly, "You are fighting for your country, so I don't want to be too strict with you. But you can't show too much either. The Censorate and Wei Zhi and others will be waiting to find fault when you return."
Among the people the emperor brought out this time, except for General Ashina who handed over all the spoils he collected to the emperor in a serious manner, who else did not bring his men to divide the spoils?
Including Duke Zhao, he took a lot for himself, and also secretly gave some to the emperor and some to the medical account. Basically, all the spoils were distributed, and there was not much left in the national treasury.
The emperor himself had led troops in battles before, so he naturally knew that as a general he had to support the soldiers under him, so he turned a blind eye to such things. After all, everyone was relatively fair. The things were not taken by themselves, but would be distributed to their subordinates. Then, through the layers, they would get some things in the hands of ordinary soldiers.
This kind of spoils of war usually have to be piled up in the warehouse for two or three years, and then taken out for use after the storm has died down. By then, the people in the Censorate will have forgotten about it.
But Qibi Heli is so good that he has already taken it out to exchange for things before returning to the capital. Does he think the noise is not big enough?
As the saying goes, if a son is not well educated, it is the fault of the father. If a minister is unfilial, it is naturally the fault of the king. After he returns, Wei Zhi will definitely scold him like this.
So in order to avoid being scolded, the emperor had no choice but to stop Qibi Heli's behavior.
He said, "There are so many good things in the capital, why do we have to buy them on the way back to the capital?"
Qibi Heli: "I just want to prepare a coming-of-age ceremony for Lord Bai."
The emperor was surprised at this, "Bai Shan has reached adulthood?"
He looked at Gu Zhong.
Gu Zhong bent down and smiled, "Yes, Lord Zhou and his wife even celebrated Lord Bai's birthday briefly on the way."
The emperor then said, "Coming of age is a major event. Even if it's not appropriate to hold the ceremony on the road, it should be held on his return, right? I remember his teacher gave him a courtesy name."
Gu Zhong smiled and said, "Yes, I vaguely heard that his name was Zhishan."
The emperor laughed heartily and said happily, "It suits his name perfectly. I hope he will always be a good person in the future."
Gu Zhong lowered his head, bent down, and replied with a smile, "Yes."
The emperor thought for a moment and said, "Giving him gold, silver, and precious stones is useless. Look at what you are trying to collect. They are either precious swords or fine horses. He is not a military commander, so he doesn't care about these things. If you want to give him gifts, you should find some rare and famous paintings. That would be more appealing to his taste."
Qibi Heli glared, "Where can I find something like this?"
Merchants rarely have such things, and even if they do, they don't know whether they are real or not, so he doesn't dare to buy them.
The emperor laughed and said, "You're not that stupid. So, don't buy anything on the road. What good things can you find on the march? When you return to the capital, ask Kong Jijiu for advice. He will definitely know where to find good things. When you buy something, let him take a closer look and he'll be happy."
Qibi Heli rolled his eyes and whispered, "Your Majesty, I have no friendship with Kong Jijiu."
"Ashina has it. Go find Ashina."
After Ashina surrendered, he always loved reading, so he often asked Kong Jijiu for advice. After a while, the two became friends, and he had some face there.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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