20demayo Chapter 363 Visiting the Qiao Family!
Chapter 363 Visiting the Qiao Family!
The New Year's atmosphere has not yet passed, and the people in the capital are still immersed in the festivities, but undercurrents are surging in the mansions of the rich and powerful.
This New Year, Gu Jingzhi attended the annual banquet as usual, and spent the rest of his time visiting various mansions, mainly those of dukes and marquises.
As a younger generation, his mistress was still in Ningzhou, so his mansion did not hold any grand banquets that year. All the other dukes and marquises sent some New Year gifts.
However, he was the last one in line at the Qiao family this time. It was not because of anything else, but because he came to visit them for two reasons: one was for normal visits, and the other was to discuss important matters.
Qiao Yang, the youngest son of the Qiao family, had just arranged a marriage with the youngest daughter of the Minister of War a few years ago. His visit this time was mainly for Dong Zhentang. The reason why he did not come directly to his house was mainly because the two of them were not familiar with each other.
Although Gu Jingzhi and Minister of War Dong Zhentang were both important officials of the Xia Emperor, they had no private dealings with each other.
This time it was mainly Qiao Zhen who was pulling the strings!
……
When Gu Jingzhi arrived at Chen Hou's Mansion, Chen Hou's son Qiao Ze was standing at the door waiting.
Gu Jingzhi got off the carriage, and Qiao Ze also walked over. He looked at Gu Jingzhi and teased, "Jingzhi, you promised me that you would come to visit me when you returned to the capital. You made me wait for several months. Jingzhi is really not kind!"
The tone was affectionate, as always.
Gu Jingzhi laughed dumbly: "I have been busy with official business in the capital for the past few months. I haven't been able to visit Lord Chen and Brother Qiao in time. It's my fault!"
After the two exchanged formal greetings, Qiao Ze smiled and said, "The capital city is indeed not as good as Ningzhou. Back then, we were also busy all day long, but overall it was very enjoyable. I miss it very much!"
Qiao Ze smiled bitterly and shook his head.
His teasing words just now naturally had no other meaning. The Chen Marquis Mansion held military power and was an extraordinary noble, so he had to avoid suspicion as he should.
Both of them understood this.
Qiao Ze brought Gu Jingzhi into Marquis Chen's mansion. Gu Jingzhi looked around and said with a smile, "Brother Qiao, you won't mind me not being able to come and have a drink at your wedding before, Brother Qiao, do you think it's a problem?"
"Ha! Where did you get that from?"
Qiao Ze burst out laughing.
After he returned to the capital, Qiao Zhen arranged another marriage for him. The other party's family was not of high status, but she was the daughter of a noble family.
At that time, Gu Jingzhi was still in Ningzhou, so he naturally couldn't come and congratulate him in person.
As soon as they entered the door, they saw Qiao Zhen standing in the corridor with two children, looking at Gu Jingzhi with a smile. The two children ran over and shouted happily, "Teacher!"
Gu Jingzhi smiled and patted their heads: "I haven't seen you for a year, you've both grown taller!"
To be honest, he didn't teach the two children much at the beginning. Most of the time, it was Chen Yu who took them to study. However, they were kind to Gu Jingzhi. After all, Gu Jingzhi often took them to play in the fields.
After a few simple words of comfort, Gu Jingzhi stepped forward and bowed to Qiao Zhen, saying, "Old General, long time no see!"
After he returned to Beijing, he and Qiao Zhen only met twice at court meetings. Military generals generally did not have to attend court meetings except for major court meetings. Later, he was transferred out of Beijing to patrol the border and change guards. In total, the two had not seen each other for several months!
Qiao Zhen was genuinely happy to see Gu Jingzhi. He patted Gu Jingzhi's hand and said, "You're such a hard-working little brother! Why, just because you've been promoted to a third-rank minister, are you trying to avoid suspicion with me, your older brother?"
"Uh……"
Gu Jingzhi smiled bitterly and said, "What are you talking about?"
To be honest, his relationship with the Qiao family is quite interesting. He is of the same generation as the Qiao brothers, and he is also on a brotherly terms with Old Man Qiao. The third generation of the Qiao family was even his student...
If the old man knew about the relationship between him and his daughter, he would probably come to his house with a knife.
After a few laughs and jokes, the two of them walked towards the main hall together. As they walked, Qiao Zhen explained, "We're hosting a banquet for the Dong family today. If you have any ideas, feel free to ask. Old Dong and I have already agreed that as long as it doesn't violate the rules, there will be no problem!"
Gu Jingzhi felt warm in his heart when he heard this.
The two years of friendship in Ningzhou were truly not in vain!
He smiled and said, "Don't worry, old general! It's not a big deal, and it's definitely not against the rules! But I still want to thank you for your help, otherwise I really wouldn't have rashly come to see Minister Dong!"
"You..."
Old Master Qiao shook his head and said, "You're a good hand at getting things done, but your ability to navigate official circles is average! Take you for example, there are many people in the capital who have benefited from your kindness, but you're a bit too cautious. You have to know that in official circles, connections are essential, not just for getting things done!"
"Let's not talk about far away places, let's just talk about the Duke of England's mansion. You have some connections with his family, but other than normal interactions, I haven't seen you visit him much!"
"And Xue Ruhai, you helped him solve a big problem at the border, but you didn't even move around! Then there are the Wei, Yang, and Zhou families. You have a pretty good relationship with those three guys, right?"
"Among the young men in the capital, you hold the highest rank and title. They might not even reach your level even if they wait another ten years. But compared to them, you have no energy at all!"
Old Master Qiao was full of complaints, but Gu Jingzhi could only smile bitterly.
He knew that Old Man Qiao was giving him some advice, but he was used to being alone in his previous life, and even after traveling through time, he was still plagued by many things. He was in crisis earlier. Although he can now control his own destiny, the price of this increased status... The fun that belongs to his age group is almost out of his reach for him.
A 24-year-old Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue would be almost equivalent to a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Finance in modern times.
Grandpa Qiao's last sentence was actually just a complaint. After all, as a third-rank official in the court, he really didn't have that much freedom in many things. At least... if he, Gu Jingzhi, was as indulged in sensual pleasures as his peers, he would probably be impeached every day when he went to court!
The two chatted all the way and soon arrived at the main hall of the inner hall.
Qiao Yang was accompanying the family of Minister of War Dong Zhentang.
Seeing Gu Jingzhi walk in, he immediately stood up: "Brother Gu..."
Gu Jingzhi glanced at him with a smile and said, "I heard that you are going to get married soon. Congratulations!"
When Qiao Yang heard this, his face immediately turned red. He glanced at the crowd a little embarrassedly. Gu Jingzhi looked over and saw a girl standing behind a woman a little shyly. He thought she was Dong Zhentang's family member.
According to etiquette, men and women are separated at banquets hosted by this wealthy family.
However, the wife of Marquis Chen died early, and Qiao Zhen did not remarry. The new wife of Marquis Chen's son Qiao Ze had just married and was not yet familiar with many things.
It's a family dinner, so it's not that particular.
If we talk about the outsider, it is only Gu Jing.
He glanced around and locked onto one person, who was none other than the Minister of War, Dong Zhentang.
Dong Zhentang and he served in the same court. Although they were not familiar with each other, they were not unfamiliar with each other. Therefore, when he saw Dong Zhentang, Gu Jingzhi smiled and bowed, saying, "Minister Dong, I am honored to meet you!"