Chapter 2 Pretty Girl
While chatting with this "handsome young man", Jiang Chengfeng learned that the dynasty he lived in was called Northern Tang, the emperor was Li Mang, and the capital was Jiankang.
The Northern Tang Dynasty valued culture over military affairs, which was a bit similar to the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty in ancient China. Girls liked talented and romantic men. However, the Northern Tang Dynasty was not as peaceful and prosperous as before. There were wars everywhere, and the people at the border were suffering. However, the officials in the heart of the Central Plains did not think about the suffering of the people and were still living a life of drunkenness and debauchery.
“I foolishly think that if our Northern Tang Dynasty could attach importance to military affairs, why would the northern enemies be so rampant?” After saying this for a long time, the “handsome young man” sighed softly, his clear eyes full of worry.
"Brother, what you said is absolutely right!" Jiang Chengfeng clapped his hands in agreement, but his eyes were always fixed on the two guards who had not left yet, intentionally or unintentionally .
"By the way! Have you ever thought about fame and fortune, brother?" The handsome young man did not notice the strangeness in Jiang Chengfeng's eyes at all, and when he was excited, he asked Jiang Chengfeng about his fame and fortune.
Jiang Chengfeng shrugged his shoulders, "No!"
The handsome young man was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "Brother, you are very talented, you must be being modest!"
Jiang Chengfeng curled his lips and was too lazy to argue with this guy.
Several pleasure boats passed by on the Bi Bo Lake. Even standing on the shore, Jiang Chengfeng could clearly hear the silvery sounds and whispers coming from the boats, and his lower abdomen couldn't help feeling hot.
"Beyond the mountains are green mountains, beyond the buildings are buildings. When will the singing and dancing on the blue lake stop? The warm wind makes the tourists drunk, and they just mistake Huazhou for Liangzhou!"
(Note: Huazhou and Liangzhou here were two prosperous cities in the Northern Tang Dynasty!)
Jiang Chengfeng suddenly got excited and thought of these few lines of poetry, and recited them immediately. The handsome young man was stunned at first, then recited them twice in a low voice, and his eyes lit up.
"Excellent! Excellent!" The handsome young man clapped his fan and praised loudly. Even the pretty servant behind her had a look of admiration on his face.
Jiang Chengfeng pretended to be humble and casually asked the handsome young man's name. The handsome young man said his name was Meng Jianglin.
"Brother Meng, we are destined to meet!" Jiang Chengfeng put his arm around Meng Jianglin's shoulders, took a deep breath, and secretly praised the fragrance. "One of the characters in your name is my last name! My name is Jiang Chengfeng!"
"Hello, Brother Jiang..." Meng Jianglin's pretty face flushed again as Jiang Chengfeng suddenly took advantage of her. Under the reflection of the setting sun, she had a kind of captivating charm that made Jiang Chengfeng stare at her in a daze.
"I agree with what Brother Meng said just now! But I think we can't blame the officials for their inaction. The root cause of this situation is not those officials!"
"Could it be that Brother Jiang has a good idea?" Meng Jianglin wanted to break free, but Jiang Chengfeng refused to let go, so he had to give up. "I am willing to listen to you!"
"As the saying goes, you reap what you sow! Whatever the monarch does, the state of the country will be determined by what he does!"
Meng Jianglin frowned slightly, obviously not fully understanding what Jiang Chengfeng said.
Jiang Chengfeng pointed at the pleasure boats that shuttled back and forth on the Bi Bo Lake, as well as the young men and young ladies walking in groups of three or four by the lake, and said with a smile: "This scene is the best embodiment of the monarch's governance! In other words, this is the result of the public opinion trend of a country!"
"Public opinion trend..." Meng Jianglin was even more confused, her brows furrowed. She looked so cute when she was thinking so hard. Jiang Chengfeng almost couldn't help but bite this girl on the face.
After a while, Meng Jianglin sighed, clasped his hands, and bowed respectfully, "I am a clumsy boy, please teach me, Mr. Jiang..."
gentlemen?
Jiang Chengfeng was slightly stunned, but then he felt relieved when he remembered that "Sir" in this era was a respectful title, probably equivalent to teacher.
"Brother Meng, you are joking. Don't say the word 'Mr.' anymore!" Jiang Chengfeng had evil intentions towards this girl . If he treated her as a Mr., it would be difficult for him to do anything to her.
"Mr. Jiang, you're too polite!" Meng Jianglin had no intention of correcting himself and still called Jiang Chengfeng "Mr.". Jiang Chengfeng was too lazy to correct him.
At this time, Jiang Chengfeng and Meng Jianglin came to a shallow beach by the lake. Jiang Chengfeng picked up an egg-sized pebble on the beach and played with it, saying with a smile: "To put it simply, it is a propaganda method! If you do a good job of propaganda, you can do a lot of things! For example, look at these talented people who are boating on the lake. If the policymakers want them to enlist in the army, if you do a good job of propaganda, everything is possible!"
After hearing what Jiang Chengfeng said, Meng Jianglin immediately understood. He bowed again and praised Jiang Chengfeng for his talent. Jiang Chengfeng was even a little flattered by the praise.
"Now the enemy is invading from the north, but you can see that people are still living a life of decadence and debauchery. This shows that there are problems with the people in power!" Jiang Chengfeng shook his head and sighed.
"Brother Jiang, what you said is wrong!" Meng Jianglin obviously disagreed with Jiang Chengfeng's words, and immediately sneered: "Since the emperor ascended the throne, he has worked hard to govern the country and appointed wise men. There is hope for the revival of our Northern Tang! Although the northern enemy is invading now, as long as the men of our Northern Tang fight bravely, why should we be afraid of the northern enemy?"
Obviously, Meng Jianglin has great confidence in the emperor of the time and is a die-hard royalist. He even changed the way he addresses Jiang Chengfeng to "Brother Jiang".
Jiang Chengfeng glanced at Meng Jianglin, sneered in his heart, but did not say it out loud. From the host's memory, Jiang Chengfeng learned that the current emperor Li Mang was a playboy when he was young, eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, and neglected state affairs after ascending the throne. As a result, he is now over 60 years old and has no crown prince, only two daughters. The Li family's imperial power is in jeopardy!
As for employing wise men, that is nonsense. If wise men had been employed, the Northern Tang army would not have suffered successive defeats and lost territory.
"I hope the emperor is really as Xiao Meng said, that would be a blessing for the people of Northern Tang?" Jiang Chengfeng threw the pebbles in his hand into the lake, creating ripples.
Being called "Xiao Meng" by Jiang Chengfeng, Meng Jianglin's cheeks immediately turned red and he glared at Jiang Chengfeng fiercely.
Jiang Chengfeng pretended not to see it, and his eyes accidentally swept across the handsome servant boy beside him. He saw that the little servant boy's eyes were wide open, his fists were clenched, and he looked like he was ready to rush up and fight Jiang Chengfeng to the death at any time.
"Brother Jiang, do you mean you don't think highly of the Emperor?" Meng Jianglin took two deep breaths and tried to suppress his anger, but his eyes became colder as he stared at Jiang Chengfeng. The luxurious aura that suddenly burst out from his body made people look sideways.
"I'm really not optimistic!" Jiang Chengfeng spread his hands and sighed : "Xiao Meng! If you rely on mountains, the mountains will fall; if you rely on people, they will run away! Why should you pin your hopes on some damn emperor? People... still have to rely on themselves!"
"Asshole!" Meng Jianglin was obviously irritated. He pointed at Jiang Chengfeng's nose and shouted, "How dare you say such a treasonous thing?"
"Girl, being angry will give you wrinkles!" Jiang Chengfeng said with a smile.
"You...you are shameless!" Meng Jianglin's delicate body trembled. She was stunned for a long while. Then she pointed at Jiang Chengfeng's nose and started cursing. The little good impression she had for Jiang Chengfeng in her heart disappeared.
