When the north and south gathered in Bagong Mountain outside the city, there were also some small gatherings of different sizes inside and outside Shouchun City.

In a quiet house in the southern city of Shouchun, Xie Shang and Yuan Tan sat opposite each other, each with a little sigh in their hearts.

Seeing Xie Shang, who was radiant and more elegant than in the past, and compared with his current haggard and sick appearance, Yuan Tan faintly regretted his decision to go north with the team this time. If they don't see each other, or if they can still retain a little beautiful friendship in their hearts, now that the old friends meet and sit opposite each other, they don't know what to say.

Although he and Xie Shang are both in-laws and close friends, the difference in their respective experiences makes it difficult for them to find the intimacy they had in the past.

The last time we met was a few years ago when Yuan Tan was about to go south to take up his post. At that time, Yuan Tan was much more high-spirited than now, and was favored and trusted by Wang Dao, who was the Taibao at the time, and was about to go south to take up his post as a pioneer to balance the Wu people. Xie Shang was a little depressed, recalled to Taichung from the local government, and then was treated coldly and idle, and has been depressed and unwilling.

At that time, in order to avoid suspicion, Yuan Tan couldn't help but deliberately alienate Xie Shang. Although Xie Shang was later invited to get together, due to their different choices, it only widened the rift between this friendship.

Nowadays, time has passed, and each other's circumstances have changed dramatically. It is true that Yuan Tan has made good political achievements in the southeast, but he has not created much in the most important political task of balancing the Wu people. After returning to Taicheng, he had to face an embarrassing situation, that is, Director Wang, who promoted him in the past, had completely faded out of the current situation, leaving him with no strong reinforcements to rely on.

It's a pity that Yuan Tan didn't recognize this fact when he just returned to the capital, and after returning to the capital, he didn't know how to restrain himself, so that those prodigal people in the capital made a big fuss at home and lost face, so that even the originally promised Taiwan appointment could not be fulfilled for a long time.

However, Xie Shang had a different chance here, after going north, he was led by Shen Weizhou as an arm, and he was appointed as the hometown of Chen County.

Earlier in the capital, Zhuge Cheng came to invite him to go north, and Yuan Tan was also a little hesitant. Although he was embarrassed for a while, he didn't want his former good friends to see his current downfall. In previous years, no matter what, he was also a handsome person who was directly sent by the important ministers of Taiwan, but now he has to be employed by many Zhuge Yong, who are not as good as him, and he really can't accept it in his heart.

But he also understands that this is one of his few opportunities, Director Wang has completely faded out of the current situation and is getting older, and there is no hope of recovery, even if there is any remnant, it will be more used to take care of his own children, and will not lean towards him.

As for the current ruling party in Taiwan, although they have some connections on the surface, this shallow friendship is not enough for them to make efforts to promote themselves. You must know that even He Chong, whose qualifications and fame are far superior to him, can only serve as a prominent position in the service after returning to Taiwan, and has no actual position, let alone Yuan Tan.

Zhuge Ling's invitation this time seems to be presumptuous, but in Yuan Tan's opinion, it is probably also a test of idle chess in the boredom of the forces behind him. If Yuan Tan can persuade Xie Shang to turn to Taichung, the Taiwanese assistants should also return the favor. But if not, Yuan Tan will probably be marginalized for the rest of his life.

Now the situation in Jiangdong is different from the past, but there is no power to cooperate, and it will only decline day by day. But if you are in a powerful position, even if the family is not high, you will be greatly respected, Wu Xing Shen is an obvious example, his family has only risen for more than ten years, but with its accumulated meritorious achievements, it has won the reputation accumulated by the rest of the portal for several generations or even more than ten generations.

Even if Yuan Tan was unwilling or ashamed, it was related to the growth and decline of his family, and he could not tolerate his willfulness, so he did not dare to miss such an opportunity, so he could only support his sick body and follow him north.

I hadn't seen Xie Shang for a long time before, and it was also because he still had a difficult decision in his heart, and after many days of inner struggle, he finally decided to invite Xie Shang to meet.

Xie Shang looked at Yuan Tan, who was deeply ill and even a little out of shape, and his heart was also full of emotion. He is now in charge of the Governor's Mansion to deal with the reception affairs of the next country, and naturally he has long known about the arrival of this wife, brother and old friend, and has not taken the initiative to invite him before, one is indeed a lot of affairs, planning and preparing for the assembly of Bagong Mountain, and the other really doesn't know what attitude to face Yuan Tan.

However, when Yuan Tan took the initiative to send out an invitation, Xie Shang still pushed aside many affairs and immediately withdrew to see him.

After the two met, except for the first few awkward blunt greetings, they drank relatively silently. Each other is a first-class smart person in the world, even if they don't talk deeply, they can figure out each other's intentions just by their demeanor and demeanor. Reluctantly asked, once spoken, it will make each other more distant and embarrassing.

From Yuan Tan's heart, he naturally hopes that Xie Shang can change his position and turn his heart to Taichung. Although Shen Weizhou has a high reputation, if even the important subordinate officials of his government have a bad idea of his people and strongly advocate handing Huainan back to Taichung, he probably will not dare to insist on it anymore, so as not to fall into the betrayal of his relatives.

If this important goal can be achieved, Yuan Tan, as the liaison between the center, will inevitably have a second spring in his political life, and it is even possible that he will be an important official of Taichung stationed in Huainan.

However, it is impossible for Xie Shang to gamble on the entire family because of Yuan Tan's future alone, and he is not enough to represent the entire family at the moment.

Today's Chenjun Xie family is already dependent on the Shen family as a whole, uncle Xie Pei and Wu Xing returned to Taiwan to serve as Jiuqing after the expiration of his term, and another uncle Xie Guang is a subordinate officer of Shen Sikong, and cousins Xie Yi and Xie Wan have been invested in the Huainan army, especially Xie Yi is the representative of the family's martial arts.

The political disputes are complicated, and even if Xie Shangken returns to Taicheng, it is impossible for the Taiwan assistants to let go of the entire Xie family because of him alone. What's more, Xie Shangjiu is in Huainan, and he knows better than the people in Jiangdong about the power of the current Metropolitan Governor, and it is simply delusional for the Taifu to hope that they will not use swords and soldiers to clamp down on the Metropolitan Governor. And if you really use the sword soldiers, it will be a short blow and a long one, and you will definitely lose!

Moreover, as a person working in Huainan, the broad prospects he sees are by no means comparable to the predicament in a corner of Jiangdong. How could anyone who works in Huainan give up the vibrant Huainan and settle for the lifeless Jiangdong!

Unconsciously, the Douyu sake was drunk, and even Xie Shang was secretly drunk. And Yuan Tan was even more drunk, and he still had to send people wine.

Xie Shang hurriedly waved his hand to stop him: "Yan Dao is still sick, and his diet must be moderate, even if he is elegant, he must not indulge." ”

When Yuan Tan heard this, he was immediately a little stunned, glanced at Xie Shang, and then smiled: "If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I really couldn't believe that Xie Renzu would say such a thing." ”

Hearing Yuan Tan say this, Xie Shang was also dumbfounded for a while, his eyes showed a look of reminiscence, and only after a moment did he sigh: "In previous years, I didn't know sorrow, I didn't see danger, and I often regarded floating waves as beauty. Now that he is in office, he does not dare to harm the public because of his personal interests. I also gave a small advice, the joy of the moment may be forgetful and sorrowful, but the difficulties of the world are by no means indulgent. If you don't dare to be arbitrary, and if you don't avoid worrying and working, you can't be troubled by everything. ”

Yuan Tan's drunkenness had already surged up at this time, and when he heard this, he just waved his hand and said that the evil voice was disgusting, and at the same time, he was not lacking in melancholy: "The old man has gone far, and the old love is difficult to regain." Today's reunion, only to get drunk, stop at drunk. After a good year, can Renjo give me a drunk? ”

Speaking of this, Yuan Tan was already in full decline, and Xie Shang couldn't bear to refuse when he saw this, so he ordered someone to send Huainan fruit brew. After this fruit is steamed a few times, the wine has a strong aroma, and even if you are drunk, it will be less harmful to the body.

When the new wine was delivered, Yuan's frenzied state was fully revealed, the cup was full and he drank it, and even his eyes became confused, and he occasionally laughed and sang a few slang songs, and for a while it seemed to return to the carefree and indulgent teenage years.

Xie Shang was originally a liberal person, and it was inevitable that he was also influenced by Yuan Tan, so he should be harmonious at the table, and he was so excited that he took a musical instrument and sang a song with Yuan Tan.

However, no matter how indulgent you are, there will always be an end to it. After drinking so much, Yuan Tan soon became completely drunk and unconscious, and the wine was spilled on his body, and then he fell asleep directly on the ground.

Xie Shang was still a little sober at this time, and let people bring refreshing cold water and plum soup to relieve hangover, and saw that Yuan Tan was already drunk and unconscious, so naturally he couldn't leave immediately, so he asked people to go back to the governor's mansion to take leave, and at the same time retrieved some unconfidential books and letters, so he stayed in this mansion while accompanying the hangover Yuan Tan while sitting on the desk to deal with official business.

In the middle of the night, Xie Shang was writing at the desk, but he heard a strange noise behind him, turned his head to look, and saw that Yuan Tan had already risen from the couch, his eyes were looking straight at him, and tears were already hanging down his cheeks.

Seeing this, Xie Shang pushed the case up, walked over and said with a smile: "Yan Dao is awake? But hungry and dry? I'm ......."

"I have a puzzle that has been difficult to solve for a long time, can Renjo tell me? What kind of person is Shen Weizhou, who can make such an elegant person as Renzu be driven by him and work hard to commit crimes? ”

After the hangover, Yuan Tan's mind was still drowsy, and his words were less restrained: "Nostalgia, old friendship, and relatives are all estranged because of this, Renzu asked himself, is this the work of Shengde sage?" ”

After Xie Shang heard this, he was also silent for a while, and only after a moment did he sigh: "Most of the governors are as deep as the abyssal sea, and the closer they are to their bodies, the more they feel their shallowness." Huainan several years of accumulated work, people know only one or two, in this realm, everyone is striving to advance, a little slack is beyond the reach, so that people have no feeling of idleness. Trolling the tail or enjoying myself, but I am in this life, I feel sad and happy, and it is really difficult to compare myself with Chu Turtle. ”

When Yuan Tan heard Xie Shang's answer, he was also silent for a long time, and then ordered his attaché to prepare for driving. It wasn't until he boarded the car and left that he looked at Xie Shang again and said, "There are also a few young people in my family, I don't know if I can trust it here?" ”

"Hundreds of rivers are racing, if you don't reflect on yourself, has Yan Dao ever seen the sea refusing to accept?"

Hearing Xie Shang's answer, Yuan Tan laughed again, leaned on the car and waved goodbye. Xie Shangli watched his people drift away in the thick of the night, and the night wind whimpered, faintly sending Yuan Tan's slightly desolate singing voice: "...... Leaving the soul for a long time and being sad and happy, the hardships and frost tell the sorrow. Huafa gradually became lazy, and bowed to Yuehui to ask for the return date......"

But the fear of death as a ghost made my wife weeping.