After Gou Delu left, Emperor Dade said to Laixi: "You little eunuch is very discerning, transfer to my side to serve the day shift, Laixi, Laixi, and Chunxi's name is very similar, alas......" Thinking of Chunxi's death, Emperor Dade was in a complicated mood, he didn't believe that Chunxi would murder him, but this situation occurred when Chunxi was on duty, and in the end, Chunxi could only carry the black cauldron. And the emperor's imperial guards were not severely punished in the end because they were born in the scholar clan or even a family, but the emperor's imperial guards were also disbanded, and Tang Guifei's brother Tang Qi was also demoted to the Longdu Mansion and became a head catcher.

Emperor Dade didn't trust the Imperial Forest Army, after all, the commander of the Imperial Forest Army was Li Canglan, but he had to rely on the Imperial Forest Army, because no one could protect his safety except the Imperial Forest Army. Thinking of his own safety, he thought of Zhang Xiaowu again, he naturally couldn't trust Zhang Xiaowu, but he showed a lot of trust, this is the emperor's mental technique, he needs someone to be grateful to him, and he also needs someone to die for him.

Emperor Dade turned to look at Zhang Xiaowu, and when he saw Zhang Xiaowu looking into the distance indifferently, he asked, "What is the feeling of killing?" ”

Zhang Xiaowu thought for a while and said: "Back to Your Majesty, when I killed someone for the first time, I felt that the world was spinning, and I was not myself, and then I vomited, vomiting strongly. But after killing too much, spitting and spitting, I got used to it. ”

Emperor Dade nodded and said, "You did a good job, this old lady is used to being domineering in the palace, she is like a shrew, and she doesn't even pay attention to my words." Zhang Xiaowu smiled faintly and didn't say anything, and Emperor Dade then hesitated and said: "But if you kill the queen mother's grandmother, the imperial history will definitely impeach you, plus you were repeatedly impeached some time ago, and I have to punish you, you have to know it." ”

Zhang Xiaowu said: "I will do whatever the emperor asks me to do - but Your Majesty must not let me enter the palace as a eunuch, I still have a daughter-in-law at home." ”

Emperor Dade laughed: "Don't worry, there is no shortage of eunuchs in the palace, and in the next five years, the palace will not accept new eunuchs." ”

Zhang Xiaowu said: "Your Majesty, you don't have to be so frugal. ”

Emperor Dade said with sadness in his eyes: "The Holy Han has been extravagant for three hundred years, and the national strength has declined. The empire is now on a downward slope, and if I don't catch up, I'm afraid that the country will be cut off in my hands. Zhang Xiaowu was about to give advice, but Emperor Dade waved his hand and said: "You don't need to say words of comfort to me, I am not ignorant of the current situation of the Holy Han. The Holy Han is far from the powerful empire of the past in the mouth of the hundred officials, let alone the Holy Han who came to serve the Ten Thousand Dynasties. First of all, I want to revive the saint, only you can help me. ”

Zhang Xiaowu said: "The minister will never give up." ”

Emperor Dade laughed: "Okay. He thought for a moment and said;" In order to prevent the next hundred officials from impeaching you, I will punish you first, so as not to give people an excuse. He paced left and right, thought for a long time, and suddenly smiled and said: "Now that you are a third-rank military general, I will punish you for the position of commander of the border army, transfer to the Longdu Imperial Forest Army, and be demoted two levels to serve as the Jinwu general of the Zhengfour-rank Imperial Forest Army, and be Li Canglan's deputy." ”

Zhang Xiaowu said strangely: "Your Majesty, you asked me to be Li Canglan's deputy?" General Li is more than enough to be a lieutenant general in the Imperial Forest Army, he is bored all day looking for someone to drink, and I will go over to help him, wouldn't it be boring with him? As if he had said the wrong thing, he then patted his head and laughed, and said: "The day before yesterday, Li Canglan asked me for a drink, and it was very interesting to ask me how to defeat the Inuyi army. I thought he was here to woo me for Dushan, but I didn't want him to just ask how to fight the Inuyi, the climate and marching conditions in the north, and even asked in detail about the map of the north, he wanted to be a general who expanded his territory, and he didn't want to be anyone's eagle and dog minions. ”

As if he had known about this for a long time, Emperor Dade said: "I know Li Canglan's wishes, he wants to be a Dapeng who spreads his wings and flies, but now in the Royal Forest Army, he is just a caged bird. Therefore, I want people to make the best use of their talents and materials, and prepare to promote Li Canglan to the commander of the 19th Regiment of the Xuanwu Army. "The commander of the general is the third grade, and the lieutenant of the Imperial Forest Army will be the third grade, but the lieutenant of the Imperial Forest Army will protect the safety of the emperor and the palace, and its importance is naturally not the same. If Li Canglan does not serve as a lieutenant general in the Imperial Forest Army, if he only becomes a commanding general in the future, it will be difficult for the officer to be promoted in this life.

Zhang Xiaowu said: "Your Majesty, can Li Canglan be pulled to our side?" ”

Emperor Dade said noncommittally: "Li Canglan's father, Li Yu, was a general of the 19th Regiment, who died in the Battle of the Birch River that year, and I think he must hope to restore the former glory of the Xuanwu Legion. And Du Shanbo has no time to control his eighteen righteous sons at this time, this is the best time for me to divide them, as for whether to win him over or not, he is my people, can I still win him over with him? You're thinking too much. ”

"It's the minister who wants to be left." Zhang Xiaowu smiled slightly, he knew Li Canglan's wishes, and he was willing to help him realize his dream.

Emperor Dade sighed and said: "But the Ghost Guard cannot be abolished, the Ghost Guard, a border army that can fight well, is an important bargaining chip for me, and it is a dagger and dark arrow to quell rebellion." It's just this Beimu City...... It's really a chicken rib, if there is no ghost guard in Mucheng, what use do I want it to have. ”

Zhang Xiaowu had to admit that because of the lack of water and food in Mucheng, the imperial court needed to spend a lot of energy and manpower, material and financial resources every year to support the survival of Mucheng, if it were not for its strategic significance, the imperial court would have abandoned Mucheng a long time ago. However, if Mucheng is abandoned, Saibei and the northern tribes will immediately realize the weakness of the Holy Han and take advantage of the weakness to attack the Central Plains. Saibei is the face project of the imperial court, and its existence is related to the face of the Shenghan Empire, so Shenghan must support it.

Emperor Dade asked: "The ghost guard can't be withdrawn, the wooden city can't be lost, if you join the Royal Forest Army, then the ghost guard will have no one to lead for a while." First of all, do you have any recommendations? This person must be loyal to the empire and the royal family, second, he must be able to fight well, and third, he must not be too ambitious. I don't want to see the second Dushanbo, and I don't want to see the civil war. ”

Zhang Xiaowu said: "Back to Your Majesty, Xiao Kai, a subordinate of the minister, can be the commander of the ghost guard, this person is the same as the minister, he is also a civilian, and there is no one to rely on except Your Majesty." And Xiao Kai is good at commanding large corps operations, and his command ability is even better than that of his ministers. The minister has been with his colleagues for three years, and even his temperament and character will never do anything to betray the empire and betray the emperor. Your Majesty can use this person with confidence, and you can even secretly order him to lead troops to the king. ”