With the arrival of Tong Guan, all the guests no longer talked and laughed and drank tea, but came forward to congratulate each other, which was naturally busy for a while. Afterwards, Tong Guan smiled and said: "It's not too early now, please go to eat and drink with the old man, and it's not too late to talk about anything during the banquet." ”

So, the hundreds of guests flocked to Tong Guan and went to the lobby where the lights were already shining and the sound of silk and bamboo music was constantly coming out.

This hall is really spacious, although hundreds of tables are set up, it is still not crowded, and at the same time, there are Tong family servants guiding officials and guests at all levels to sit in positions suitable for their own identities - even if later generations sit at the round table and formal occasions are too exquisite, not to mention the current Song Dynasty's separate banquets - but under the guidance of the Tong family slaves who have been prepared for a long time, everything seems to be in order, and everyone has already entered their places after a while.

As a newcomer to officialdom, Sun Tu has a low status, so he can only accompany the last seat at this time, and sit far away near the entrance of the lobby. However, he did not feel any resentment about this, but felt that it could be more relaxed.

With the guests all seated, today's birthday banquet officially began, and people continued to bring up plates of delicacies and fine wines, these arrangements naturally treated equally, whether it was a burly general sitting at the top, or Sun Tu, the wine and food on the table were the same. And today's wine and food are really a bit rich, mostly big fish and meat, Sun Tu even saw a fried chicken fried golden and crispy on the plate in front of him, but he didn't know if it was prepared and sent by Liu Fangju.

Most of the guests at this table are from martial arts, and this kind of wine and meat arrangement is naturally in line with their tastes, and everyone is not very restrained.

For this performance, Tong Guan not only did not mean to blame, but seemed very happy, and repeatedly persuaded the generals who were eating with their mouths full of oil not far in front of him, and at the same time explained the method of a few dishes, and heard the voices of admiration from time to time from these military attachés.

"Tong Shuai, today's banquet unconsciously reminds the last general of the celebration banquet after the great victory in the northwest against the party members a few years ago. At the beginning, it was also ordinary, the brothers drank and talked happily, and there was not enough meat to eat. A general wiped the oil and water from his mouth and mentioned it very nostalgically.

These words made Tong Guan also look stunned, and only after a while did he pick up the wine glass and take a sip: "Yes, what a beautiful scenery we were waiting for, that is, the lord of the Western Xia Kingdom had to retreat three points when he heard the name of the old man." The only pity is that Liang Qigu's head was not cut off that day, which is really a pity. ”

"Tong Shuai still thinks about this thief? Don't hide it from the marshal, the last general came from the northwest to congratulate the marshal on his birthday this time, and he took his helmet and flag as a birthday gift. The general took advantage of the situation and said.

Tong Guan became interested when he heard it: "Is this true? Han Tao, you quickly present the congratulatory gift and let the old man take a closer look. ”

There was no need for Han Tao to say anything, the steward of the Tong family on the side had already hurriedly instructed the people below to fetch the birthday gift that he had placed in the concierge early in the morning. In a short time, a huge box was carried to the hall by three house slaves, and after unpacking it and opening the lid of the lock, everyone saw a broken flag and a half-worn helmet lying inside.

When Tong Guan saw it, his face suddenly showed a flush of excitement, and he quickly asked someone to take out the things and send them to the front, and after taking a closer look, he nodded again and again: "Yes, it's this helmet and flag, the old man still remembers that the Liang Qigu top was this armor in the battle outside the keel pass that day, and it was only because he was fast that he escaped with his life." Did you bring his head this time? ”

"Tong Shuai forgave him, this time he still let him slip away. However, he was also hit by several arrows, and even if he went back, he would not be able to save his life. ”

"Hey, that's a pity." Tong Guan sighed, obviously still haunting the enemy.

Sun Tu listened to their conversation from afar, and his opinion of Tong Guan deepened a little. It seems that this famous traitor in history is not like the legend that he will only go on a rampage to meet the horse, he actually has the heart to serve the country and kill the enemy.

Then, Tong Guan smiled again: "But now the little Liang Qigu is no longer in the eyes of the old man, even that Xixia is nothing." What the old man is thinking about now is that one day he can go on a northern expedition and recover my hometown in the Central Plains - the sixteen states of Yanyun. ”

These words naturally aroused the unanimous admiration of everyone, and they all said that Tong Guan should be old and strong, and Lao Ji was really a rare loyal and good general in the Great Song Dynasty. At the same time, some people wanted to inquire about the deployment, after all, this is a major event related to everyone's future, but Tong Guan is silent about this, just vague.

Seeing that Tong Guan didn't want to mention this matter more, some confidants quickly changed the topic and showed out the birthday gifts prepared by their own families.

This is also the relationship between most of the people who attend the meeting today, and if they get together with the civil officials who regard themselves as high-minded, even if they want to show their respect for their superiors, it is impossible to directly take out gifts and compare them with each other. But everyone in the hall, whether Tong Guan or the guests, didn't feel that there was any problem with this, and the atmosphere became more and more enthusiastic.

Sun Tu looked at these birthday gifts given by the guests, and secretly said in his heart, just these gifts together are not less than 200,000 yuan, they all said that the officials of the Great Song Dynasty were rich, and this time it can be regarded as a long insight.

After a while, the valuable birthday gifts were finally displayed, and everyone returned to their seats. At this time, Zhou Yun also stepped forward and joked: "Uncle, my grandson has also prepared a little heart, although it is not as valuable as your predecessors, but it has also cost me a lot of thought." ”

"Oh?" Tong Guan was in a good mood, so he glanced at his nephew: "Then you can also take it out and show it to the old man." ”

Zhou Yun immediately clapped his hands, and soon a house slave walked up to the hall with a white fur. Everyone didn't pay much attention to it at first, but after careful observation, someone sighed lightly: "It's actually a white tiger skin!" ”

Tiger skins are actually not uncommon in this era, especially since many people here are generals who lead troops in the army, and they have hunted tigers on weekdays, but white tiger skins are only heard by their name and have never been seen.

Even Tong Guan nodded with satisfaction after seeing this white tiger skin: "Yes, this thing is very expensive." ”

"My grandson knew that my uncle had a cold leg because he was leading troops outside the Saiwai, and I heard that this white tiger skin had a miraculous effect on curing cold diseases, so I worked hard to make people find this tiger skin to show their hearts." As Zhou Yun spoke, he intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Tong Mu at the two tables in front of him, and he showed his face today.

Tong Mu just smiled calmly after seeing his provocative eyes, and didn't say anything, which made Zhou Yun only feel a punch in the air, unspeakably uncomfortable. In this way, even if there were funny compliments from the guests on the side, Tong Guan was quite satisfied, and he felt that something was not good.

During this period of time, because Tong Mu had been admitted to the Jinshi and obtained the official status, Zhou Yun felt even more like sitting on pins and needles. He always wanted to step on the other party at some point to relieve the hatred in his heart, but seeing that the other party did not have the heart to compete with him at all, it made him even more annoyed, and then he said: "Uncle is highly respected in the court and the opposition, not to mention the grandson, all the guests here respect you very much, and have prepared a lot for your birthday gift." ”

When he said this, the other guests nodded their heads in agreement. But at this moment, Zhou Yun suddenly turned around and looked at Sun Tu, who had long been noticed by him and sat in the last seat: "Even when Sun Dutou came today, he also said that he had carefully prepared a birthday gift, which must be a very good treasure." I wonder if Sun Dutou can be taken out to open everyone's eyes? ”

Directly attacking Tong Mu will only make his uncle dissatisfied with him, so Zhou Yun learned to be obedient this time and started with Sun Tu, Tong Mu's friend. Anyway, with Sun Tu's identity and financial resources, he can hardly come up with a decent congratulatory gift, as long as he loses face, Tong Mu will naturally lose face!