"That should be the meaning."
"But it's still a little inappropriate." Lu Haowen nodded slowly, then shook his head again. "The emperor shouldn't have taken the first three... This doesn't mean that Zhang, Han and others will be alienated from the emperor because of this matter, but in the eyes of these foreign generals, wouldn't the first three be fundamentally cheaper for Yang Yizhong, Huyan Tong, Qiao Zhongfu, and Zhang Jing? And from today's merits, to be fair, the generals in front of the emperor are far inferior to Zhang and Han." At this point, Lu Xianggong paused slightly before continuing. "And if we have always been in the same light as before, it would be fine, but since we have calculated it in detail, you three and I four, this three points seems awkward. In my opinion, the emperor only needs to have a general idea of the distribution of military officials, and there is no need to get too involved or too detailed..."
"Mr. Lu misunderstood." Hu Mingzhong waited for Lu Haowen to finish his words, then immediately responded seriously. "You must know that the spoils in the camp are also classified. The three parts that the emperor took from the camp today were all cloth and copper coins, which were used for pensions and resettlement for the seriously injured and disabled and the dead in battle. They did not even cross the river. They were carefully distributed to the generals according to the casualties counted before, and asked them to keep them first. No one in the army was dissatisfied. Han Liangchen was the first to enter the camp, but he took all the more than 2,000 war horses in the camp. The emperor pretended not to know at first, but mentioned this matter again when he divided the spoils later, and converted the war horses into two parts. In this way, Zhang and Han had nothing to say about the subsequent distribution."
"So that's how it is." Prime Minister Lu nodded his head repeatedly, looking a little embarrassed. "Things have been so complicated, and the emperor has made his own decision. It's me, an old man, who has thought too much. To be honest, seeing that you have helped the emperor win such a great victory today, the country may have a chance to breathe, and I almost want to resign..."
Hearing this, everyone hurriedly stood up to comfort him… One said that Prime Minister Lu was in charge of the court affairs at the time, and he made great contributions in this battle, and his achievements in military affairs even surpassed those of Prime Minister Li; another said that the country was still in turmoil, and a great victory was just to boost morale, but it was still a long way to go before stability, and Prime Minister Lu should not easily abandon the country and the government during this national crisis; even the shrewd scholar Kobayashi finally praised him earnestly, saying how hard Prime Minister Lu had worked in Bagua Mountain for the past three or four months.
Obviously, these important officials are still the same. They hope that Prime Minister Lu will continue to be so confused, but also hope that he will continue to have a successful career and protect everyone from wind and rain... It would be best if he could continue to be a prime minister in a confused manner, and then accompany the emperor to recover the two rivers and rebuild the country.
In this way, some of the younger ones with less experience might be able to serve as proper ministers under the overwhelming arrogance of Prime Minister Li!
However, Hu Yin and Hu Mingzhong were still a fool. After everyone finally persuaded Mr. Lu to stop, and the atmosphere at the banquet became a place of good cheer, this fellow continued to report in a serious tone:
"Let Prime Minister Lu know that the emperor distributed the rewards in the evening and visited the wounded. Then he asked us to go back on our own. He and Yang Yizhong took some wine and went to find someone to drink with. That's why I'm here!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room suddenly became quiet.
"Mingzhong, why didn't you say it before?" After a long pause, Zhao Ding, the prefect of Zhao, could not bear it any longer.
"My husband never asked about it before." Hu Yin spread his hands.
"Are you looking for Zhang and Han?" Chief Censor Zhang Jun followed closely behind.
“Not really…”
"That's fine." Lu Haowen sighed. "It's impossible that when the emperor is meeting with the generals in private, you and I, the civil officials, are drinking somewhere else? Since you are not going to look for Zhang Han, are you going to drink with the generals in front of the emperor?"
"No... I mean, the emperor is not only looking for Zhang and Han, but also Jie Yuan, Liu Bao, Wang Sheng, and even the ordinary soldiers in the army. They are all outstanding heroes today. There are more than a hundred of them. They went to the Huai River to drink together!" Hu Yin quickly added. "One of them is a captain nicknamed Li Laosan. I personally went to find him... He was upset at first, saying that he didn't do anything great today, but two of his brothers died, and he didn't want to embarrass himself at the banquet. In the end, his commander Liu Bao personally went over to give him a verbal order before he was called over."
After hearing this, everyone was speechless, and they all felt that the wine and drinks in front of them had lost their flavor.
"Why didn't Mingzhong finish speaking at once?" Zhang Jun was also extremely helpless.
"It was clearly Brother Yuan Zhen (Zhao Ding) who interrupted me." Hu Mingzhong remained calm.
Everyone became more helpless.
Finally, after Lu Haowen found out the reason, he smiled slightly, showing the demeanor of a prime minister: "Since the emperor has made a promise before the war, he must keep it now. Why should you and I care? Besides, the honors after the war should belong to the soldiers. People like you and me should focus on the court. That is where we can display our talents... What do you think, where should the emperor go after the war?"
Zhang Jun, Lin Jingmo, and Zhao Ding looked at each other, first at Prime Minister Lu, then at Hu Mingzhong who had an innocent face. They were all helpless, with a lot of thoughts in their minds... It was difficult for them, the favorites of the officials, to be so helpless!
PS: Sorry, this is the only chapter for today. I’m really stuck with my writing. I don’t even know what to write when it’s put online... Let me think it over... Cruel!
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