Imperial Palace, Imperial Study Room.

Emperor Kaiping stared at the tall and elegant Marquis of Xiangcheng, Xiao Jin, who stood opposite him, and sincerely admired him: "After guarding Western Xinjiang for ten years, Ai Qing's demeanor remains the same as before."

Xiao Jin lowered his head slightly and said gently: "Your Majesty, I am too embarrassed to deserve your compliments."

Emperor Kaiping said with a smile on his face: "If you come, please give me a seat."

The inner warden brought a round stool, and after Xiao Jin thanked him, he sat down on the right side with an indifferent expression.

After Pei Zhen passed away in the Western Region, the position of the head coach of Hucheng immediately became popular. Most of the martial arts knew that Hucheng was so strong that it was rare in the world. As long as they could defend the city safely for a few years, after returning to Beijing,

He is definitely qualified to enter the Xifu to participate in military affairs, and his title is even more promising to continue to be promoted.

At that time, Wang Pingzhang was determined to make progress and regarded the Hucheng coach as his own. However, he was jointly opposed by the founding princes. Except for Gu Liang, who was the head coach of Nanjing Zhennan Camp at the time, Wu Xunqingui, headed by Lu Min, strongly

Even Emperor Kaiping could not support Wang Pingzhang.

In the end, this prestigious military position fell on Xiangcheng Bo Xiao Jin. Wang Pingzhang was helpless, and Lu Min and others could no longer object.

Xiao Jin was born in Xiangguo Mansion. His ancestors, Xiao Zhi, the Duke of Xiangguo, and Pei Yuan, the Duke of Dingguo, were close friends. The two families had a deep connection. Before Pei Zhen passed away, Xiangguo Mansion and Dingguo Mansion were very close family friends, so this candidate was chosen.

Leave everyone speechless.

In the winter of the fifth year of Renxuan, Xiao Jin set off for the Western Region to take over the position of commander of the Hucheng Camp and the head coach of the Hucheng Camp, which had been vacant for more than a year. It has been eleven years. In these long years, Xiao Jin has only returned once in total.

During the two visits to Kyoto, there is no need to elaborate on his merits and hard work. His title has already been promoted to the first-class prince, and he is only one step away from the title of Duke.

Daliang is very cautious about conferring the two-level titles of princes and princes. So far, there are only six living first-class princes, including Guliang, the Marquis of Guangping, Tang Youzhi, the Marquis of Jining, and Xiao Jin, the Marquis of Xiangcheng. One of the other three is on the southern border.

Jun is Xiong Wuhou Lan Yu, who is currently the head coach of Yaoshan Camp. The other two have long since ceased to hold real power due to their old age.

Among the six current first-class princes, Tang Youzhi was appointed governor of Lingzhou. Although he was the first frontier official to hold military and political power in Daliang in the past hundred years, anyone with a discerning eye knew that he had no hope of further advancement in his life.

Originally, Gu Liang should be the most promising prince to cross that threshold. However, this time Emperor Kaiping forcefully recalled Xiao Jin from the Western Region and took over as the head coach of the Kyoto garrison. This gave many people a strange idea.

.

They wanted to know who Emperor Kaiping planned to lead in the war against Zhou.

At this moment, the monarch and his ministers in the Imperial Study did not seem to be thinking that far ahead. They were just chatting about the situation in the Western Region in a calm and peaceful atmosphere.

"If Xiwu makes a comeback, can Yin Wei, Su Wu, Liu Dingyuan and others be able to withstand it?" Emperor Kaiping asked with great interest.

Although Taishitai Pavilion and Luan Yiwei continued to send intelligence from all over the world, in terms of judging the overall situation, Xiao Jin's words were obviously more convincing. After thinking carefully, he said slowly: "Your Majesty, Tiger City

The strength of the city lies in its defense

If Xiwu cannot take Hucheng in one day, it must send tens of thousands of the most elite cavalry to keep an eye on this place to prevent us from cutting off the retreat. In this way, relying only on their infantry and light cavalry is not enough to defeat the Longbow.

, Jinshui and Dingxi camps.”

Emperor Kaiping nodded with satisfaction.

Xiao Jin continued: "Although Marquis Qi Yun is not good at field battles, his skills in training soldiers are impeccable and his character is cautious and steady. I believe that he can defend Hucheng well. And now that Marquis Jining is the governor of Lingzhou, he is very good at military tactics. His attainments are as different as those of Xue Tao, and he will definitely be able to stabilize the rear of the frontier army."

After answering Emperor Kaiping's questions in a serious manner, Xiao Jin sighed: "Actually, this battle in Xiwu has been debilitating. The loss of cavalry in a hundred battles exceeded 40,000, and the loss of infantry was close to 70,000. The army, horses, food and grass are not that important. , it will take at most two or three years to recover, but where will more than 100,000 old soldiers come from? Zhongshan Hou fought beautifully in this battle, and I praised him many times when I was in Hucheng."

Hearing him mention Pei Yue, the corners of Emperor Kaiping's mouth curled up unconsciously. After all, this was a handsome man he promoted personally, which showed that he had a superior eye for people.

At this moment, the inner prison suddenly called Shen Shenyun to see him.

"Xuan." Emperor Kaiping said calmly, and then smiled at Xiao Jin and said, "I don't have a moment to spare, even if I want to have a good time with you to reminisce about the past."

Xiao Jin bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty is the Holy Emperor who cares about the common people. This is actually Daliang's good fortune."

From this sentence, we can see that his relationship with Emperor Kaiping is not simple. In fact, it was only a few years after Xiao Jin became the head coach of Hucheng that Wang Pingzhang gradually came back to his senses. Obviously, the emperor had already thought about taking over from the beginning. Pei Zhen's choice to garrison Hucheng.

Silent Cloud walked into the Imperial Study Room calmly, first saluted Emperor Kaiping, and then nodded to Xiao Jin.

Emperor Kaiping asked: "What's the matter with Qing Shen?"

Silent Cloud replied: "Your Majesty, General Zhenguo and the Marquis of Zhongshan were having a banquet at the Bamboo Tower at noon today, and then they met the brothers Wang Shenzhi and Wang Shenqi of the Duke of Wei. After the conflict, the Duke of Wei and the Marquis of Guangping arrived one after another, and finally punched the Marquis of Zhongshan. I ended up knocking out Wang Shenqi’s mouth full of teeth.”

The people in the inner prison palace standing around were shocked. Pei Houguo was very human and dared to kill his own grandson in front of Wang Pingzhang.

Emperor Kaiping's face darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye, and he said in a cold voice: "Is this bastard full of food?"

Silent Cloud said: "Your Majesty, everything happened for a reason."

He explained the whole story and process of the conflict in detail. Xiao Jin listened quietly beside him. He suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Tang Youzhi before leaving Lingzhou.

It seems that the battle between Wang Pingzhang, Gu Liang and Pei Yue is inevitable.

After hearing this, Emperor Kaiping looked strange and cursed: "How on earth did Wang Pingzhang discipline his children and grandchildren? He raised such a beast with no moral ethics! That bastard Pei Yue is also a stubborn donkey. It was just a few words of argument, but he actually turned it into a bastard. If someone has all their teeth knocked out, they won’t be able to speak anymore. It’s really..."

Nothing was said for a long time. It turned out that the emperor was actually happy as he talked.

Xiao Jin and Shen Moyun were in a daze when they saw this scene.

Emperor Kaiping realized that he was a little carried away in front of the two important ministers, so he suppressed his smile and said seriously: "Shen Qing, go to the Zhongshan Marquis Mansion in person, reprimand Pei Yue for me, and order him to reflect on himself in the mansion for three months. ——Forget it, he still has to deal with the Southern Zhou envoys, so I will fine him three years’ salary as a warning to others.”

"I accept the order." Silent Cloud bowed and left.

Xiao Jin secretly sighed in his heart, it would be hard to believe His Majesty's favor and trust in Pei Yue unless he saw it with his own eyes.

As a member of the Wu Xun family who had risen to prominence at the end of the Zhongzong Dynasty, Xiao Jin knew Emperor Kaiping very well, but the emperor in front of him felt a little strange to him. He couldn't tell what had changed, but he always felt that Emperor Kaiping now was different from that of back then.

There was something a little different about the prince who had an extraordinary vision of killing and decisiveness.

Emperor Kaiping looked at Xiao Jin with gentle eyes and said with a smile: "Pei Yue is young and energetic. Fortunately, he has good integrity and his loyalty is impeccable, so I will be more lenient sometimes. Xiao Qing, the important role of the Kyoto garrison

Nature is self-evident, I have called you back from the Western Region, and you should be able to understand the profound meaning."

Xiao Jin stood up and responded: "I understand."

Emperor Kaiping nodded and said: "Go ahead and do it. Sometimes blood transfusion is necessary, so you don't have to worry."

Xiao Jin felt awe-inspiring, and immediately lowered his head and said: "I guarantee that the capital will be safe and sound."

Emperor Kaiping became more and more satisfied. When he was still a prince, he had close relationships with a number of nobles of similar age in the capital. Among them, there were only a few people he admired the most, and Xiao Jin was one of them. Over the past ten years, these people have

The commander-in-chief had never let him down. If he hadn't been guarding Hucheng, Emperor Kaiping might not have dared to take the risk and let Lu Min serve as the commander-in-chief of the Western Army.

He waved to the eunuchs next to him, and then several eunuchs came to the imperial study room holding a plaque.

Xiao Jin saw the four words on the plaque at a glance. Even though he was used to the wind and rain, he still couldn't help but feel secretly excited.

Emperor Kaiping said warmly: "In addition to the gold and silver farm, I will give you this plaque to reward you for your more than ten years of hard work in the Western Region."

Xiao Jin saluted and paid homage: "I have thanked Your Majesty for your kindness. I am grateful for Your Majesty's good reputation. I dare not die before you do it!"

I saw on the plaque it read: Loyal to the sun and the moon.

When Gu Liang returned to Kyoto from the south, Emperor Kaiping also gave him a plaque saying "Gong Zhong Ti Guo". From then on, no one could suppress Gu Liang's meteoric rise.

Now that Xiao Jin has become the third person after Wang Pingzhang and Gu Liang, the meaning is self-evident.

Emperor Kaiping said: "This plaque can be hung in the ancestral hall of the mansion, or it can comfort the spirits of your ancestors."

Xiao Jin burst into tears of gratitude and nodded again and again.
Chapter completed!