In the capital's Zhongshu Province, the authority that upholds the monarch's will exudes majesty second only to the imperial power.
Next to the hollowed out tables, there is a middle-aged man wearing a horn-spreading futou, a purple robe with a round collar and long sleeves, a three-clawed dragon pattern embroidered on his chest, and a gold and jade leather belt around his waist. The man has snow-white temples and is twisting Frowning, he read the letter sent from Hedong Road.
According to the dress regulations of the dynasty, official robes of the first and second ranks were embroidered with dragon patterns, those of the third, fourth and fifth rank were embroidered with landscapes, and the sixth to ninth rank were embroidered with flowers and birds.
The difference between the first and second grade court clothes lies in the presence or absence of a white singlet worn underneath and the brocade ribbon pattern draped on the outside.
It can also be identified by the number of beams on the official hat. The second beam is the lowest and the nine beams are the top. In the Wei, Jin, and pre-Tang dynasties, there was a comparison of "the nine beams are at the extreme, and the second beam is initially different."
The man wore a futou instead of a beam hat, so it was impossible to tell from the official hat.
However, the purple robe with dragon patterns is embroidered with auspicious clouds and beasts on the edge, and the craftsmanship uses small jacquards with dark patterns and gold and silver threads. This is a first-class treatment.
And there is no Luo Zhizhong unlined garment under such a gorgeous purple robe, so it is no doubt that the official residence must be of the first grade.
Even so, he was in a very high and powerful position. He was located in Zhongshu Province, and all government affairs had to pass through here, including the emperor's imperial edicts. Together with the Privy Council, he represented the civil and military will of a dynasty, which shows the breadth of his power.
He walked slowly to the candlelight, burned the letter, slightly raised the beard at the corners of his mouth, and pulled the very ornamental goatee on his chin to smile. He did not expect that his brother, who never bowed his head, would ask for something for an "outsider" to him.
In this mud-like temple, someone who can stand alone like him and successfully become one of the top powerful officials must have unique methods.
It's just that he was supposed to watch the partisanship in the imperial court from afar, but was interrupted by a letter from his brother. He had heard about Zhao Zhengli in the letter, and had quietly assassinated him for two million gold.
With his eyesight, he could tell that this person was extraordinary, but the two of them had no contact and had no way of socializing with each other. The only good impression he had on him was the provocation of the Khitan envoy in the capital, which could be regarded as earning face for the Qing people that day.
It would be unthinkable to say that he would help him because of this. What he was struggling with was how his brother, a gangster, could get involved with him and be willing to stand up for him.
He couldn't figure out the twists and turns, but according to his current analysis of the court situation, Yu Bin, the Minister of War, was indeed crucial, and the prince's action against him was nothing more than the first to break the balance among the three parties.
If Chen Yin protects Yu Bin at this time, there is no benefit, and if he doesn't protect Yu Bin, it seems that he has not bought his brother's favor.
After much thought, he decided to send a favor to the Privy Council. At that time, it was up to him to see how Yu Bin made his choice.
If the matter is finally exposed, Chen Yin, the minister to his right, the Prime Minister, will not be suspected of being involved in the party.
Thinking of this, he wrote a letter and sent it to the residence of Privy Councilor Wang Shi, who was also a member of the first rank.
——
Hedong Road
Taiyuan Prefecture
Lei Xunuo, the prefectural pastor, Tao Yuan, the governor, and Murray, the military governor of the prefecture.
The three leaders of Taiyuan Prefecture gathered together just to witness the legendary man who stirred up rivers, lakes and temples. Hearing rumors from Qingzhou, Zhao Zhengli made a trip to the East China Sea and entered the legendary sacred mountain on the eve of taking office. There are strategies to deal with the enemy.
Although the three of them have their own masters in the party, they naturally have no time to care too much when the powerful enemy is pressing the territory. If they lose an inch of land, it is estimated that it will be difficult for them to save their heads, and even the whole family will be affected. Therefore, the three of them now unanimously obeyed the advice of the border troops and put aside the imperial court's strategy of suppressing military generals.
Of course, this is just a temporary compliment from the literati under the general trend. If the war on the northern front is stable, this group of civil servants and scholars will still have their eyes high and look down on this group of warrior barbarians.
However, not all of them understand the general situation like this. Take the various transshipment envoys as an example. They rely on the trust of the court to allocate military rations, salt, iron and other materials to do whatever they want. No matter how urgent the military situation on the northern front is, it will be useless to insist on delaying and pushing back. .
This has led to the current problems such as the delay in supplying the northern border. The commander-in-chief of Hedong Road Ge Hongliang and the deputy commander-in-chief Yao Xuda have been suffering from internal conflicts, which has caused the morale of the army to fall into a low state.
The morale of the Khitan, Tubo and Xixia Three Kingdoms has become worse and worse.
Only then did Ge Hongliang go north to the front line. He was in urgent need of Zhao Zhengli, the captain of the Shangqingche who had not yet been appointed to the post, to defend the enemy with him.
However, he ignored the complicated relationship between his son Ge Xiaojin and Zhao Zhengli, as well as the bumpy road along the way north to take office, which was no less difficult and dangerous than Xuanzang's journey westward in the Tang Dynasty.
Zhao Zhengli also thought, if Chen Xiaoyao hadn't stopped him in time, what would have been the outcome of his confrontation with Chen Yin, the right minister's assistant?
If Yao Hanbei had not been escorted, how many "bandits" would have appeared along the way.
He couldn't understand the imperial court's intention to let him go north, but also acquiesced in the secret frame-up. Was he simply looking for a reasonable excuse to obliterate him? Or is it the King's cat-and-mouse training trick?
In any case, since he chose to go north, he naturally made up his mind to start.
His resolute face stared at the soft armor, iron boots, saber and other items that were presented to him after hearing the decree and conferring the title.
In the distance, Yu Xiaowei and Biyu had complicated expressions, each harboring worries.
Putting on armor and carrying a sword means leading a military career. Both of them know that this is not his ambition. Is it worth thinking about the rough and smooth road that he is about to encounter?
Chen Xiaoyao smiled extraordinarily brightly at the side, and even he didn't know why.
Yao Hanbei admired it like a humble gentleman. In his opinion, the relationship between the two had at least improved a little bit.
Lei Xunuo, the governor of the state, Tao Yuan, the governor, and Murray, the military governor of the state, didn't have much idea. They just congratulated politely and said some pleasant words.
The group of middle-aged Confucian scholars with swords in their backs sent by the imperial court did not show up. Perhaps it was due to the cold arrogance of the swordsmen, or perhaps they knew that the chess piece Zhao Zhengli would have a bad fate in the future, so they were not very interested in it.
In the next two days, Taiyuan Mansion was handing over matters to the newly appointed fourth-grade captain, while at the same time sorting out military information and reporting it to the court, as well as distributing emergency deployments to various places along the northern line of Hedong Road.
Everything was going on in a hurry, and Yu Xiaowei never left Zhao Zhengli's side for the past two days. She just wanted to see this "husband" in name only as much as possible.
Biyu wisely chose to avoid it. After all, after these two days, she was going to go to the border with Dao Zhang Zhao. She had a lot of time to get along with him at that time, so how could she care about these two days.
Yu Xiaowei's worried heart was relieved on the last afternoon, because news came from the capital that her father Yu Bin's life had been temporarily saved. Now he was waiting for her to return to Beijing to assist in the investigation, and all the pressure fell on her.
It is not difficult for a discerning person to see that the imperial court intends to use the Yu family and his daughter to contain Zhao Zhengli. Even if the fourth-grade captain has power in the north, he does not dare to act rashly.
This move was planned by the imperial court in advance, so Zhao Zhengli had no choice but to go into the trap obediently.
This also disrupted his plan to secretly rob and kill those swordsmen in Confucian shirts. It seemed that Yu Xiaowei had to return to Beijing.
In the evening, as the sun set, Zhao Zhengli, dressed in a plain shirt, came to Chen Xiaoyao's attic. He was sitting at a wooden table making tea. As soon as Zhao Zhengli entered the room, he started pouring tea into the purple sand tea set and said something without raising his head. :"Just right!"
Zhao Zhengli sat down opposite him, showing a shy smile: "Did you know I was coming?"
He pushed a cup in front of Zhao Zhengli, then took another cup and brought it to his mouth to take a sip and said, "Who am I, this great hero? How can I not know this?"
Zhao Zhengli looked at his divine expression and smiled slightly, his feeling of embarrassment disappeared.
Chen Xiaoyao pushed away the unsightly sideburns with his fingers and patted his chest: "Brother, I promise to secretly escort my sister-in-law back to the capital unscathed."
Zhao Zhengli straightened his plain shirt and nodded silently.
The suave and romantic man immediately blushed and said a little shyly: "But you have to take good care of the Bi family's little lady for me. Don't intercept her while I'm away."
Although Zhao Zhengli had noticed something in recent days, he was still a little surprised when he said it in person. Looking at his old face that was as red as if he had drunk three kilograms of strong liquor, he nodded slightly distractedly.
There was an unknown loss in my heart, as if I had lost something. Finally, I sighed softly: "You have to treat her sincerely."
When questioned, Chen Xiaoyao suddenly became anxious and swore with three fingers: "If there is even the slightest bit of falsehood, you will kill me with a sword and pestle."
"..."
——
The jingle and iron horses gallop along the post road, and only listen to the rooster announcing the morning dawn.
At dawn, the sky and earth are hazy.
A group of armored soldiers from the north of Taiyuan City marched northward.
Another group of swordsmen in Confucian shirts headed south.
One of the most beautiful women had a face as cold as frost. After traveling for dozens of miles south, she looked north and silently wiped away tears. Her eyes were full of helpless abandonment, and her heart was filled with sadness as she walked away.
A young man in plain clothes, leisurely riding a high-grade war horse, was hanging leisurely ten miles away. On his waist was the Thunder Knife of the Thirteenth Class of the Weapons Book. He was holding a wine flask in his hand and took a sip from time to time, murmuring: "Let me The hero personally escorted her, and there was no one else in the world. Alas, they were all doing business for love."
——
It is normal for the cavalry going north to travel one to two hundred miles a day without carrying heavy loads, and it can reach seventy or eighty miles with accompanying provisions. All this is attributed to the military post road.
Zhao Zhengli and his party were led by Ge Xiaojin, followed by about thirty or forty people, each with a war horse on his hip, galloping along.
The team was covered in armor like him, with three people carrying swords on their waists and spears on their horses. The rest were half-armored, and two more repeating crossbows were hung on their backs.
In order to protect Zhao Zhengli's safety, Yao Hanbei followed the team fifty miles behind.
In fact, even if something unexpected happens, Zhao Zhengli is not afraid at all as he is a middle-grade grandmaster.
Yao Hanbei also knows this. As for why it is unnecessary, it comes down to him stating his position.
Zhao Zhengli rarely spoke to anyone along the way, and Ge Xiaojin did not deliberately create difficulties. There were sentries in front of dozens of people and covering soldiers behind them. As a captain appointed by the imperial court, it was natural for him to be treated like an officer.
Biyu is wearing a long skirt, which is very conspicuous in the armor team, and the Captain Zhao who is accompanying her is even more eye-catching against the beauty.
There were no stops along the way except for a rest at the thirty-mile posthouse to change horses. Their destination was Changning Army, which was due north. They passed through Xianzhou in the afternoon, then passed through Kugu Village, and expected to arrive at Changning Army in the evening.
In the field of vision, there are undulating loess slopes, and clusters of wormwood shrubs are dotted here and there. Green life seems particularly precious.
The wind and sand are very strong and dry, and it looks deserted at first glance.
Occasionally, I encountered asylum-seekers who also moved their families south. As early as January ago, the 36 prefectures of the Five Routes and Sixteen Prefectures, which faced the Khitan on the northern front, began to move south in pieces. At the same time, they were constantly recruiting people to expand their troops and assemble on the second front. practice.
Nowadays, the first front in the north is defended by the Thirteenth Army, which is directly under the imperial court's "Six Lions of Zhenbei". Counting the Eighth Army on the second line and the temporarily expanded twenty-sixth Army, there are more than 300,000 soldiers.
Among the more than 300,000 soldiers, there are only more than 100,000 war horses. In addition to the standard 890,000 elite soldiers of the "Six Lions", there are tens of thousands of other armored soldiers patchworked together with cloth armor, wooden armor, and even war swords. There is still a shortage of tens of thousands of spears and other offensive equipment.
The only guarantee is that the city defense equipment is barely complete, but they are all products of the dispute between the ten countries five or six years ago.
The five or six years of great unification were short-lived after all, and the Qing Kingdom had not yet fully recovered.
However, the Khitan, Tubo, and Xixia Kingdoms were no exception. They were even weaker than the Qing Kingdom in terms of war preparedness, otherwise the three kingdoms would not have merged.
The Three Kingdoms are currently training their troops and generals, and they just want to take advantage of the situation. Now they are waiting for the old emperor of Qing to swallow his breath. When the partisan disputes in Qing begin, it will be their time to rob.
It was late at night when Zhao Zhengli arrived at the Changning Army camp. He originally planned to rest for a night in Xiaolianggou. However, in the evening Ge Xiaojin received an urgent letter from his father, saying that a Khitan spy had come south along the Kelan Mountain and had already met with Kelan. The Lan army fought in the hidden mountains and forests, and now they are closing in on the mountains.
The other seven armies on Hedong Road also took this warning and increased their vigilance.
In an army, there are five men to form a corps commander, twenty men to be captains, a hundred men to be centurions, five hundred men to be commanders of small cities, one thousand men to be commanders of large cities, three thousand men to be generals and partial generals, and five thousand men to be generals. , partial tooth general, 10,000 people are appointed as generals and deputy generals.
These are all achievements piled up on the battlefield through military achievements. Captains like Zhao Zhengli are officials by decree and belong to the imperial title. If there is no clear decree, they will not have much real power on the battlefield. If they do not have strong skills, they will Even the pawns sneered at it.
In the temple and the court, it depends on people to serve, but in the army, you only rely on strength to convince people.
Changning Army, General Pang Luyi, and deputy generals Xiao Ke and Zuo Heng, all three were from the Jin Kingdom in the past. Later, the Jin Kingdom was annexed by the Zhou Dynasty. They were appreciated by Ge Hongliang, the then Commander-in-Chief, and promoted from the rank of corps commander to the present day.
Yao Hanbei told Zhao Zhengli all this in advance, and with his current status, he was naturally not qualified to welcome him in person.
The one who was waiting outside the camp was He Wen, the commander of the small capital who was in charge of 500 soldiers. Such treatment was enviable to others in the eyes of ordinary soldiers.
He Wen had dark and rough skin, a perfect northern man. He was not tall but extremely burly. He was covered in tendon flesh covered in heavy armor. His eyes gave people a creepy impression even with a smile.
Zhao Zhengli glanced at his half-false and half-contemptuous smile, and he knew that the other party looked down on him, an "official sent by the imperial court."
He Xiaodutong said hello and sent his soldiers to lead Zhao Zhengli to the camp.
Zhao Zhengli entered the camp, which was poorly furnished, with a few desks, a topographic map of the mountains on Hedong Road, and a bed.
I don’t know whether it was because of his official position or the influence of celebrities, but he actually arranged a separate tent for the first time.
According to the normal distribution, a captain should be on par with a centurion. A junior captain must be in charge of at least 500 soldiers in a single tent to be qualified. A new captain with no military merit like him would be better off living in a three-person tent. Luck Those who are worse are directly sharing the same tent with ordinary soldiers.
After all, except for the shining titles above their heads, they are no different from ordinary soldiers.
However, what Zhao Zhengli didn't know was that he was a monk and his fighting power on the border was several times greater than that of ordinary soldiers.
No matter which country, people like him will treat each other with courtesy, so all this treatment is reasonable.
The few tents next to him were all occupied by monks, most of whom did not even have any title.
Zhao Zhengli was naturally unclear and had no intention of delving into this issue. He simply lay down on the hard couch with his hands on the pillow and looked up at the oilcloth tent in trance.
There are hundreds of similar tents outside, all set up by the army's baggage supplies, including food and grass supplies, offensive and defensive weapons, and in charge of all logistical matters.
In this way, the soldiers can charge and kill the enemy without any worries.
Ten ordinary soldiers lived in a tent. The tent was separated by wormwood to prevent moisture. A soft blanket was spread on top of the wormwood. The soldiers rested on the soft blanket with their ears to the ground. They did not take off their armor at night and kept their hands on their weapons to prevent the enemy from attacking at night. Attack.
The sentries outside the camp patrolled in three shifts day and night, and sentry towers were set up in the east, west, north and south to provide temporary safe habitats for the soldiers as much as possible.
Zhao Zhengli spent his first night in the military camp half asleep and half awake.
In the early morning, he looked southward in a trance, showing no joy or sadness on the surface. All he knew was that there was a trace of tears in the depths of his beautiful eyes, which then turned cold at a visible speed.
Biyu watched silently behind her. Logically speaking, she was happy when Miss Yu returned to Beijing. Why was she sad instead?
