Li Feng rushed back to Chengdu with a box of high-quality Hepuzhu and Jiaozhou specialties. Rao is he traveled day and night, and when he arrived in Chengdu, it was already early April.

Li Yan had returned to Chengdu before that, and the Nanyang discussion was underway. Zhuge Liang was not there, and it was Jiang Wan and Zhang Yi who were fighting against Li Yan, and in the face of the aggressive Li Yan, they insisted very hard, and even a little embarrassed.

However, Li Yan was not easy, and Zhuge Liang gave him a big problem.

He took Nanyang, Zhuge Liang took Longyou, and the two of them had equal credit. It stands to reason that meritorious service will be rewarded, and the soldiers say that most people's military merit rewards have been decided, and now there are only three people who can't be decided: Zhuge Liang, Li Yan and Wei Ba.

The problem lies in Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang is the prime minister, and his official position cannot be promoted again, at most, he will adjust his title and add some food. Li Yan still has space, not only can the title be promoted from the marquis of the capital to the marquis of the county, but there is also a vacant position of a great general above the hussar general. The practice of a general is to be done by a relative, but it is not without precedent for a non-relative to be a general - there is Huo Guang in the distance, and Yuan Shao in the near - not to mention that if he can become a general, Li Yan will not spare a daughter.

This can be said to be Li Yan's dream. When he becomes a general, he can really Zhuge Liang on an equal footing, and he can even be crushed by him. However, all this was blocked by Zhuge Liang's fluttering words.

Zhuge Liang resigned.

Zhuge Liang listed the merits of the soldiers in detail in his recital to the Son of Heaven, but did not mention his own merits at all. He said that the minister is the prime minister, and he should share the worries of the country. Moreover, although the Northern Expedition was successful, it dragged on for too long. Because of the incompetence of the ministers, the war did not proceed according to the original strategic concept, and a large amount of money was consumed, which caused the current tension. If the minister has no merit, please wear the guilt and make meritorious service, and wait for the annexation of the state and the restoration of the plain before rewarding.

This sentence disrupted all of Li Yan's jihua.

He wants to compete with Zhuge Liang, not only for power and profit, but also for fame. If the reputation is not good. There was only a bunch of Flame Tendencies left around him. The righteous man and gentleman respect him, what does it mean, how can he win people's hearts and monopolize power?

The human heart is invisible. I can't touch it. But anyone who wants to make a difference in the court can't ignore it – whether you're true or not. If you don't even want a basic face for the sake of wealth. What else can you expect others to respect you?

Zhuge Liang made great contributions, but he refused to accept the title, but took the initiative to assume the responsibility of dragging out the war. It is also necessary to redeem the merits for the crime, and then take the state to serve the court. What a noble character? Even if Li Yan knew that Zhuge Liang was looking for an excuse to stay in Guanzhong and not come back, he had to admit on the surface that Zhuge Liang's posture was indeed very high.

In this case, if he is in a hurry to become a general, compared with the two, wouldn't he become a villain who is eager for success and profit?

While he was a bit anxious to make a profit, he couldn't do it so obviously.

As for Wei Ba, it's even simpler. He has made great contributions, but he has also made a big mistake, and he has been impeached on the table, and he can't hide it. Zhuge Liang didn't express his attitude, and Li Yan didn't want to express his attitude for the time being, so he naturally dragged it off.

After listening to the narrative of Li Feng's trip to Jiaozhou, Li Yan paced back and forth for a long time with his hands behind his back. He understood what Wei Ba meant, but he didn't know how true Wei Ba's words were. Whether on the battlefield or in the officialdom, it is necessary to determine whether what the other party says is true or false, and we must not simply listen to what the other side says, but analyze the real motives of the other party from the interests of both sides, so as to judge whether he is telling the truth or shirking.

Li Yan knew that the chips in his hand were obviously insufficient. Wei Ba asked Fa Miao to tell him that he had his own way to get out, so he was not the object that Wei Ba had to rely on, but the target that Wei Ba wanted to test.

In other words, helping this favor was out of Li Yan's own needs, but it was not important to Wei Ba. With you and without you, I can get out of trouble, if you are willing to help, I owe you a favor. If you don't want to help, that's okay. Of course, if you ask me for help in the future, I will also consider it.

The problem is that Wei Ba didn't say how he would get out of trouble, and Li Yan didn't know if he was pretending to be a gesture or if he was really sure. Considering Wei Ba's usual methods, Li Yan finally decided to believe Wei Ba. In other words, he couldn't risk breaking with Wei Ba.

Li Yan immediately asked Jiang Wan to be invited. After Jiang Wan came, Li Yan gently pushed a note in front of Jiang Wan, and said with a smile: "Gongyan, it has been a few months since the end of the war, and the rewards for military merits are still undecided, but the soldiers are in a hurry. In response to a few disagreements between us, I have drafted a letter that I would like you to read before sending it to Bixia. ”

Jiang Wan looked at Li Yan vigilantly, took the song, and looked at it. As soon as he read half a page, his brows trembled slightly, and his face changed. He insisted on reading it, put the music on the table, hung his eyes, held his hands in front of his abdomen, and sat quietly for a long time.

Li Yan looked at him calmly, drinking tea leisurely, admiring Jiang Wan's embarrassment, like a cat playing with a panicked mouse with no way to escape.

Jiang Wan was indeed a little panicked, Li Yan's strategy was too ruthless. First of all, he cried out for Wei Ba, saying that the reason why Wei Ba made this decision and deceived Sun Quan, the king of Wu, in the name of the prime minister, was because only the prime minister could convince Sun Quan and prompt the king of Wu to send troops. Only when King Wu sent troops could he complete the strategic goal of capturing Nanyang.

That's a big crime. not only said that Zhuge Liang was a powerful minister of the government and the opposition, but also had ulterior contacts with Wu State.

Beads of sweat appeared on Jiang Wan's forehead, and if Li Yan sent this letter to him, he couldn't explain it. He believed that Zhuge Liang probably couldn't explain it clearly, because Zuihou was indeed Zhuge Liang's letter that made Sun Quan decide to send troops to help.

And it is not a secret that Zhuge Liang's power leans towards the government and the opposition, this is a fact that everyone in the world knows, Li Yan said this, but intentionally or unintentionally dialed the thorn in everyone's heart, especially the emperor Bixia. Jiang Wan didn't dare to guarantee that when Zhuge Liang was not a monopoly now, Li Yan's provocation would not make Bixia have other ideas. Zhuge Liang has no more prestige, after all, he is far away from Guanzhong, and his influence on the Son of Heaven Liu Chan has weakened somewhat, but Li Yan is in Chengdu, getting along with Bixia day and night, and may affect the Son of Heaven at any time.

Jiang Wan couldn't even tell. Since Li Yan was so solemn and asked him to see this letter, there must be plenty of reasons to wait for him. Jiang Wan is self-aware, knowing that debating has never been his specialty.

……

A fast horse sent the draft reward drafted by Li Yan to Guanzhong and placed it in front of Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang was both angry and disappointed. The draft reveals too much, and most of it is against him. What worries him the most is the tacit understanding between Wei Ba, Ma Jian and Li Yan. Li Yan's strength is not only because of his character, but also because he has solid allies behind him, which is why he can be so aggressive.

Jiang Wei and Yang Yi strongly opposed the draft. If this draft is implemented, Li Yan will be able to sit on an equal footing with Zhuge Liang from now on, and have more say in the military. The general's command of the military is more justified than the prime minister's military unification, which is undoubtedly the bottom of the kettle for the prime minister's office. Yang Yi suggested that Zhuge Liang rush back to Chengdu immediately, believing that Jiang Wan and Zhang Yi were too weak to be Li Yan's opponents.

Zhuge Liang refused, he just crossed out the terms of the draft that Li Yan proposed to add nine tins to him, sword shoes to the palace, etc., and then sent it back as it was.

Watching the fast ride leave, Zhuge Liang squinted his eyes slightly, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.

……

The Hussar General's Mansion finally reached an agreement with the Prime Minister's Mansion to determine the military merit rewards for the Nanyang War and the Longyou War.

The dark clouds that have been floating on the Shu Han Dynasty in Chengdu for several months have finally dispersed with the edict of the Son of Heaven to reward military merits.

Prime Minister Zhuge Liang made meritorious contributions to the Northern Expedition, increasing the number of households in the city, and sealing a total of 3,000 households. Give Shu brocade 500 horses, gold 500, silver 1,000 catties.

The hussar general Li Yan was promoted to the rank of general, and he was named the Marquis of Xinye, with 2,800 households. Give Shu brocade 500 horses, gold 500, silver 1,000 catties.

Meng Da, the general of Zhendong, was promoted to the general of Wei, led Nanyang Taishou, sealed the marquis, and ate 1,000 households. He gave Shu two hundred horses, one hundred gold, and five hundred pounds of silver.

Protector Chen Zhi was promoted to the general of the protector army, sealed the capital of the township, and ate 800 households.

……

Two of these people's rewards are more eye-catching. One was Wei Ba, the general of Zhennan, whose impeachment form was made public and written into the imperial court's dispatch to the prefecture and county. Judging from the facts, he did this to the victory of the Nanyang battlefield, and Prime Minister Zhuge Liang also recognized it, so he atoned for his sins, and did not increase the food in his official position, but only symbolically rewarded something, and the real affordable reward was to add a Jingnan governor, who held the festival to supervise Jiaozhou and Jingzhou Jiangnan counties.

The other is the former Huwei Zhonglang general Zhao Tong, in the armies that went out to Nanyang, although his official position was not high, but he did not lead a battle, which played an important liaison role between Han and Wu, and Zuihou captured a prisoner like Sima Zhao alive, so the Son of Heaven was extraordinarily gracious, promoted to three levels in a row, promoted to the general of Zhengdong, led Wuling Taishou, and guarded Chenyang.

These decisions were agreed upon by Li Yan and Jiang Wan in the secret room, and then reported to the Son of Heaven, which went through a formality, and soon formed an official document and sent it to the Quartet.

In addition to the military exploits of Dafeng, Li Yan put forward another suggestion at the court meeting: based on the huge consumption of the two battlefields, as well as the fact that Nanyang and Longyou, which had just started, needed time to digest, Shu Han should rest with the people and recuperate in preparation for another war, so in principle, exercise restraint within two or three years, and no one should start a war without authorization, so as not to increase the burden on the people.

Everyone knows that Li Yan's suggestion seems to be for the sake of the people, but in fact it is a rope for Zhuge Liang. If you want to go to war, it's okay, but you have to be sure, in other words, if you want Yizhou to support you to go to war with money and food, it's impossible

(To be continued......)