Speaking of which, less than two years after ascending the throne, this is already the third time that Liu Chengyou has left Beijing to go on patrol, at the beginning of the succession to the west of Luoyang, in the spring of the second year south to Xuzhou, this winter to the north, if you count the battle in Pinghe, it is four times. Under Liu Chengyou's solemn face, many people have deep enough feelings about that restless heart.

Generally speaking, when the emperor goes out on patrol, if he sets up the honor guard of the Son of Heaven, makes enough pomp, and wastes the people and money, it is certain. It is precisely because of this knowledge that this northern tour is much simpler than the previous one. Not only did he pick the door, but also the more than ten ministers who accompanied him, and limited the number of servants and guards he carried.

The camp escort army is a horse army, and it is equipped with a lot of pack horse vehicles, so the northern patrol team is very mobile, although the cold weather has an impact, but the speed of travel is not slow. According to the plan, the royal drive to Huazhou, cross the river through Baimajin, and then turn east to Yedu.

Hakuba Castle is less than 200 miles from Tokyo, departing from Tokyo in the early morning and arriving in the afternoon of the next day. The royal car arrived, and the officials of Huazhou were generals, under the leadership of Guo Congyi, who made the festival, braved the cold wind to go out of the city to greet him. Liu Chengyou took precautions in advance, and lowered the edict to welcome the driver, so as not to disturb the people, Guo Congyi also did this, so in Huazhou, Liu Chengyou did not see the scene of the warm welcome of the people of Huazhou.

In fact, Liu Chengyou is still a little "disappointed" in his heart, there are no people, they don't take shelter from the cold, take the initiative to greet them, and want to see the holy face...... Sentimental!

Under the White Horse City, Liu Chengyou got off the royal car, personally helped Guo Congyi up, shook his hand, and appeased the old ministers of the Han Dynasty, praised his military achievements, made enough gestures, and gave enough face. Among the many ministers from Hedong, Guo Congyi is considered an upper-middle talent, and he also knows how to advance and retreat, and he is quite obedient to Liu Chengyou, the young son of heaven.

took the initiative to introduce the generals of Huazhou to Liu Chengyou, and when Liu Chengyou proposed to directly inspect the garrison of Huazhou, he did not feel any difference and was extremely respectful.

As a riverside fortification, guarding the safety of Tokyo, the military strength of Huazhou is quite strong, only the forbidden army, there are 5,000. Of course, now these 5,000 forbidden troops have been reorganized by the previous imperial court, and are directly under the command of the Guards Division.

Obviously, the existence of this forbidden army is the fundamental reason why Guo Congyi is so deferent to Liu Chengyou and the imperial court. In fact, a place like Huazhou is by no means an ordinary foreign town, and the influence of the imperial court is very great, and it does not have the strength to fight against the imperial court at all.

Moreover, under Liu Chengyou's several actions, the imperial court's control over it is gradually increasing, the collection of military power has become the foundation, and the financial aspect is gradually disintegrating. Like Xuzhou, Liu Chengyou wants to regain the power of moderation, of course, he must start from such Prefecture towns.

Guo Congyi has done a good job in this section, although he has no outstanding political achievements, but he is steadfast, and he has been in the town for more than a year, and he has no notoriety. The previous time was also to actively cooperate with the imperial court's policy of streamlining government and reassuring the people, and recuperating.

During his tenure, he cultivated land and persuaded farmers, dredged ditches, renovated city moats, strengthened river defenses, built roads, and prevented disasters and provided disaster relief...... Guo Congyi has also led people to do what should be done, but the effect is not particularly prominent. However, for a martial artist, what else can be demanded of him?

It didn't have time to stop, and it took half a day for Liu Chengyou to briefly inspect and inquire about the military defense and civil affairs of Huazhou, mainly the Baima generation, and was concerned about the handling of the summer locust plague and the autumn harvest.

The camp was camped outside the White Horse City, and as usual, Liu Chengyou ordered that not a single soldier enter the city, and there were not many complaints in the army, because Liu Chengyou himself also lived in the barracks and stayed in the cold tent on winter nights.

Although in the hinterland of the Han Dynasty, Murong Yanzhao arranged the camp very well, the layout was very standard, the camp was firmly entrenched, and everything showed the seriousness of the march and battle, without the slightest negligence. In the evening, when Liu Chengyou personally patrolled the camp, in front of the generals, he expressed great praise to Murong Yanzhao.

Guo Congyi allocated some materials from the Baima Mansion, and "raised" a batch of wine and meat from the wealthy merchants in the city and sent it to the military camp to receive labor and rewards.

In a simple tent, the red-hot charcoal fire disperses the cold, and the steaming heat and the pervasive smell of wine make the atmosphere warm.

Several generals of the forbidden army gathered here, sat in it casually, drank and talked, all of them were young people favored by Emperor Liu Chengyou, rising stars in the army. Gao Huaide, Zhao Yanjin, Zhang Yongde, and Zhao Kuangyin are all there.

Looking at the situation in the account, it seems that Gao Huaide is the mainstay, on military position, on identity, all respect him, after all, he is the eldest brother of the Son of Heaven and the son of King Linqing. Others are always weaker than others.

Of course, if you want to rely only on your identity, it is impossible for Gao Huaide to suppress these people and get their approval. In fact, even if the advantage of identity is excluded, Gao Huaide's resume is also very good, after all, when he was still a teenager, he started his military career with his father Gao Xingzhou, fighting Khitan, pacifying thieves and chaos, before the founding of the Han Dynasty, he was able to win the title of assassin with military merits, which was several grades higher than his generation.

During Zhao Kuangyin's period, his background was the lowest, but his ability, character, and personality charm were not bad, and he had good communication skills. Chat and joke and get along well.

The two subordinates lifted the curtain of the tent and brought in half a roasted fat sheep, and the cold wind rolled in the curtain, which made the young generals in the tent a lot clearer.

Zhao Yanjin rubbed his hands, couldn't wait to pick up the knife, cut a piece of roasted mutton and stuffed it into his mouth. chewed, wiped the oil on his mouth, and muttered: "Choose such a time to tour the north, Your Majesty is not afraid of cold ......"

Hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin said in a reminding tone: "We are the Son of Heaven's own school, but Your Majesty has an order, and he does not dare to resign." General Zhao, don't criticize your majesty! ”

"Haha!" Listening to Zhao Kuangyin's words, Zhao Yanjin was suddenly overjoyed, and said with a smile: "Brother Yuen Long don't be nervous, I have also served His Majesty for a long time, with his open-mindedness, he will never offend us because of this, and may even laugh." ”

Zhao Yanjin is a person who has all the talents and knowledge, and he is brave enough, and he is an informal person on weekdays, and he is quite heroic. can also see Liu Chengyou's temperament.

Seeing this, Zhao Kuangyin reluctantly echoed a sentence, singing praises to the mind of the Son of Heaven, but he did not have the slightest intention of relaxing his prudence and self-discipline.

Zhao Kuangyin does not have the confidence of everyone here, and his father Zhao Hongyin is also a senior general in the forbidden army, but there is a limit to his height. He was able to be promoted to Liu Chengyou, and he felt lucky, it was the time to forge ahead, establish meritorious deeds, and realize his ambitions, and he did not want to give a bad impression to the Son of Heaven because of words and deeds and other things.

"Yuen Long is right, Your Majesty has the world in mind, and in order to understand the people's feelings, he does not avoid the wind and cold, so what do we have to complain about. This time I went north, His Majesty did not bring meritorious veterans, but chose our juniors to serve as guards, which is His Majesty's value and trust in us......" Gao Huaide also spoke, and when he opened his mouth, he spared no effort to gather the hearts of the army for his brother-in-law.

How the military spirit is cohesive, how loyalty is cultivated, is so imperceptibly repeated...... Generals like Gao Huaide, Liu Chengyou has installed a lot in the army, Gao Huaide is more subtle, some middle and low-level officers, with Liu Chengyou's civilian officials who were deployed into the forbidden army, the praise was enough to make Liu Chengyou blush.

Seeing that Gao Huaide had spoken, Zhao Yanjin hurriedly said: "If you make a mistake, you will be punished with three cups!" ”

As he spoke, he took the flask and poured wine.

Seeing this, Zhao Kuangyin joked at the right time: "Where are you self-punishment, it's clearly self-rewarding......"