Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 44 The War Is Not Forgotten (2)

"Marshal..." Tian Shizhen just muttered something, before he finished, Liu Yanqing yelled at him: "You still dare to quibble?" , and then returned to the inner room angrily, stretched out his hand to take the tea handed over by the servant girl and drank it in one gulp, then he let out a long breath, and finally there was no big mess.

At the right time, the tooth soldiers came to report, and Wang Yan, the marching commander, asked to see him. Liu Yanqing was taken aback, and immediately let him in.Wang Yan is the eyes and ears of Jinyan Mansion, the Secretary of the Imperial City, in Hebei, and is responsible for monitoring.

Wang Yan has a thin face and a slight beard under his chin. Although he is just thirty, there are already deep wrinkles between his brows and the corners of his eyes, and he looks preoccupied all the time. A touch of modesty.

"Congratulations to Mr. Liu for returning to Bianjing. A dispute was resolved with a raise of hands."

Liu Yanqing smiled, stood up and cupped his hands and said: "If this setback can't be suppressed, the old man has been acting as an agent in Hebei for 16 years. The imperial court entrusted the 20 troops to the old man. Seeing that the carriages and horses of His Royal Highness King Wei and Mr. Tong are about to Arriving at Daming, Jinyan Mansion should also feel at ease, in the past few years, I would like to thank Mr. Wang for your help."

Just as Wang Yan sat down, seeing Liu Yanqing seeing the salute, he quickly got up to return the salute, and said: "The commander killed the last general." Although he has the duty of monitoring, he can directly reach His Majesty with secret recitations, but he is extremely strict, even though he is very serious about the situation in his heart. Liu Yanqing likes to show off the bravery of ordinary people, and he is quite dissatisfied with letting the military law be lax, but in terms of etiquette, he has always followed the rules of his subordinates. Those who don't know it think that Wang Yan is the most rule-abiding outlier in Liu Yanqing's Hebei camp.

Although Liu Yanqing had no intention of separatist regime and treason, he had always kept his distance from those in the Imperial City Division. Now that he was about to resign, he couldn't help but said: "These subordinates of the Hebei Camp are good men who don't blink when they fight the enemy. It's all because the old man is used to arrogance and indulgence, he was confused for a while, and his words were occasionally inappropriate, so please forgive him. In addition, Mr. Tong is a favorite minister of the emperor, and he must have a high reputation in the capital. This time he dispatched troops to Hebei, among these camps Reckless man, I hope my lord will protect you once or twice because of the love of my colleagues for several years."

Wang Yan saw that Liu Yanqing pleaded for his subordinates regardless of taboos. Although his face was expressionless, his heart was full of emotion. As the saying goes, when a man is about to die, his words are kind, and when a bird is about to die, his song is also sad. Not forgetting these old ministries, it can be seen that the usual acts of arrogance and indulgence are not all for the purpose of buying people's hearts.

"Lord Liu, don't worry, Hebei Daying is the pillar of the country, and the imperial court is leaning on it like the Great Wall. Lord Tong has won His Majesty's favor, so he will be able to see clearly." Wang Yan said slowly, he and Liu Yanqing have always been wary of each other, At this time, they will all leave Hebei, and there is a bit of a colleague in their words, "Furthermore, I will be transferred back to Beijing soon after I am dismissed, and there may be a chance to meet with adults at that time." Tong Guan was born as a close minister of the emperor. Naturally, I don't want to keep the nails planted by the Imperial City Division around me, and Shen Yun, the official of the Imperial City Division, wisely took the initiative to transfer Wang Yan away. The secessionists rebelled against foreign domains.

Returning from the Jiedu Envoy's Mansion to the Sima's mansion, Wang Yan closed his eyes and pondered. Liu Yanqing's actions recently showed no possibility of treason on the spur of the moment. Take a pigeon feather, use a fine needle to pick out the silk script in the dark gray feather handle of the pigeon feather, unfold it gently, and the five ants-like characters of "Liu Yanqing's rebellion" are impressively visible.

Wang Yan burned the silk book as thin as a cicada's wing, and sprinkled the ashes in the stream flowing through the mansion. Then he breathed a sigh of relief, and went back to the study to carefully sort out the dossiers of the past few years.Although Jinyan Mansion is nominally under the control of the Imperial City Division, the headquarters of the Imperial City Division mainly monitors the capital, and it has become a rule that Jinyan Mansion is in charge of activities outside the capital, including Liaoxia and other countries.As the commander of Jinyan Mansion in Hebei, Wang Yan, in addition to monitoring the border commander, is also responsible for liaising with the spies in the Liao Kingdom, recruiting horse thieves and bandits as the peripheral forces of Jinyan Mansion, all of which are new arrivals. The camps in Hebei deployed Tong Guan to hand over.Thinking that Shen Yun, the official of the Imperial City Department, would actually hand over the dossier of the Jinyan Mansion to the Bian Shuai, Wang Yan felt absurd. However, judging from this matter alone, the national system is undoubtedly destroyed.

Liu Yanqing obeyed his orders wholeheartedly, even though the generals in Hebei were dissatisfied with the imperial court, there was nothing they could do. When the generals and deputy generals met together, they occasionally complained, and even sent their cronies to send an edict to the king of Wei who was still on the way. Make the loser honest and trustworthy.For these movements, Liu Yanqing, who is about to leave office, and Wang Yan, the marching Sima, turned a blind eye. At this time, it is no different from the Five Dynasties. The world is at peace for a long time. Will not seriously kill officials to rebel.In the future, Tong Guan, who is favored by the emperor, will naturally clean up the stall in Hebei.

On the fifth day of the eighth month, Prince Zhao Ke and Tong Guan, the envoy of Zhenbei Army, were about to arrive. Liu Yanqing had already summoned all the guarding generals from Zhending, Hejian and other Liao-Song borders back.The envoys in front reported that the Zhenbei Army only set up camp ten miles away from Daying in Hebei. The prince and the envoy Xuan Yu will formally go to the camp to read the imperial decree and summon the generals in the early morning.

The range of [-] paces from the gate of the camp was cleaned by tens of thousands of troops dispatched by Zuo Jinzheng, and a layer of water was sprinkled with willow branches and other things to prevent dust from flying.At twilight, the [-] soldiers who stayed behind in the camp lined up outside the gate to greet them.

Liu Yanqing was over fifty years old, in order to show his respect to the imperial court, he put on his armor and stood in front of the army with the generals on horseback. However, from morning to noon, the sun gradually rose, and the heat wave also rose. , the prince and Tong Guan have not yet arrived.In order to show the majesty of the army, most of the Hebei soldiers who got up early and lined up were in heavy armor. Under the scorching sun, many of them were already sweating profusely.

"His 'grandmother' said that he would arrive early in the morning, and it was already noon, why didn't he come? Isn't this just torturing grandpa?" Tian Shizhen, the titan, stared fiercely at the military envoy sent by the Zhenbei Army , The other generals also looked bad, and the military envoy secretly groaned in his heart, "Why do these Hebei soldiers don't understand the rules, they are indeed a group of arrogant soldiers. The review line up in the morning, the Shangguan will naturally arrive at noon, and the capital will be completed early It is also convenient for everyone to do things. Every time there is a review, the Fourth Army will practice various formations a month in advance, and the swords, guns, swords and halberds will be wiped and wiped. Review at noon, and go out of the city to complete the team at the second watch the night before. Throughout the year, It’s nothing to bask in the sun and suffer a little, the review is the most important thing, after the day of the review, it will be a comfortable day.”

Some of the soldiers from Hebei had already started to untie their armor belts and opened their clothes to wipe their sweat;Liu Yanqing's expression darkened, and he was about to tell the generals to go down to regroup, when he heard the rumble of drums, the tall cavalry held sixteen dragon flags of various colors as the lead, followed by people of various colors After the guard of honor, the formations of the Zhenbei Army's battalions with distinctive armor appeared one after another.

The Hebei army has been slack for a long time, and it is rare to see such a well-organized military appearance. They are awed by their majesty. , the battalion commander, the deputy general and other officers began to urge the soldiers under their command to regroup, so as not to lose the face of the Hebei Army and be looked down upon by the Zhenbei Army and the newly arrived adults.

The troops of the Zhenbei Army came to the front of the Hebei Army. After the formation was completed, following the order of the herald, the cavalry in front scattered to both sides like a knife cutting the waves, and a high four-horse chariot with a golden roof and copper eaves appeared. , the four corners of the roof are decorated with auspicious animals, the wooden carriages are depicted with fairy figures, the doors and windows are carved with exquisite cloud and dragon patterns, the railings of the imperial horses are wrapped with gold skins, carved with golden flowers, and the curtains are pure Woven with pearls and silver thread.There are more than a hundred attendants in the front and rear holding red and gold palm fans to cover it. From a distance, it looks like a cloud of auspicious clouds wrapping the frame of the prince.

The princes of Hebei have never seen such a gorgeous chariot and horses, so they couldn't help whispering, and even Tian Shizhen asked suspiciously: "What is this?" , don't you please?"

"What?" Tian Shizhen lost her voice, "How can a majestic man ride like a woman?" After all the troops below realized that this was the carriage that the crown prince and the new post were deployed in, they also talked about it. The shocking panic was swept away, and turned into a trace of disdain and hostility.Most of the horse-drawn carriages in the Hebei army were used to transport luggage and the wounded.Even Liu Yanqing, who is as high and powerful as the commander-in-chief, rode horses like other soldiers and generals when he was patrolling the border towns in the cold winter. Traveling by car is unheard of.

Zhao Ke was wearing court uniform for the ceremony, and was waiting in the car for the audience of the Hebei generals. When he heard the commotion on the other side, he knocked on the car window lightly and asked, "Master Tong, what's going on in the Hebei army?" Guan Ye was puzzled, and replied after hearing the words: "I think these Hebei soldiers have been guarding the frontier for a long time, and they have never seen the royal majesty, so they were a little panicked for a while."

"Oh, that's how it is," Zhao Kewen said, "The soldiers have been working hard in the front yard for a long time, and this king patrolled Hebei on behalf of the heavens, and rewarded the three armies as a good man." Tong Guan agreed, his eyes turned slightly cold, and he already regarded the camp in Hebei as his own. Its territory cannot be touched by others.

At this time, the army formation in the Hebei camp on the opposite side was quiet. Under the arrangement of the generals, the cavalry dismounted, the soldiers without heavy armor knelt down on the ground, and the soldiers in heavy armor bowed in salute. The fifty thousand soldiers shouted in unison: "See King Wei's thousand years old, thousand years old, thousand years old!" The attendant opened the curtain of the carriage, Zhao Ke got up with a smile on his face, got out of the carriage, boarded the carriage, and waved to the Hebei army on the opposite side.