As Chai Zongxun's condition improved day by day, the ceremony of establishing the prince was officially in full swing, and the entire imperial court was immersed in a festive atmosphere.

However, at this moment, the six-hundred-mile urgent military report was sent into Kaifeng City from the border pass at a gallop.

In July of this year, there was a heavy civil strife among the Khitans: the political affairs of Yelu Shouyuan and Taibao Xiao Abu jointly rebelled.

Because the incident was not secret, in the end, Yelu Shouyuan and Xiao Abu were both killed, and the rebellion failed.

The current emperor of the Khitans, Yelu Jing, is the eldest son of Yelu Deguang of Liao Taizong. Because he ignored the government and politics, in addition to drinking and having fun every day, he was sleeping heavily, and the Khitan people gave him a nickname - "Sleeping Emperor".

In order to avoid the temple of the ancestor Guo Jing, Da Zhou has always called Yelu Jing and is Yelu Ming.

Yelu Ming, who had just quelled the rebellion, had not lived a few days of stable life, and just over half a month ago, Yelu Lihu's son, Yelu Xiyin, openly rebelled.

Yelu Lihu, from an unusually prominent background, he is the third son of Yelu Abaoji, and his biological mother is Queen Yingtian, Shu Luping.

When it comes to family generation, Yelu Lihu is the uncle of Yelu Ming's son, and Yelu Xiyin is Yelu Ming's cousin.

Although Ye Luming ignored the government and politics, he always maintained a high degree of vigilance against such a fatal matter as rebellion.

After receiving the news of Yelu Xiyin's rebellion, Yelu Ming immediately decided to personally lead the most elite 50,000 "leather room army" and "subordinate Shan army", and at the same time summoned the soldiers of the military state under the head of the tribes to go to quell the rebellion together.

In this way, the Yanyun area occupied by the Khitans has become extremely empty, and the great time for Chai Rong's Northern Expedition has finally arrived!

"The Khitan leather room army. Standing at the time of Yelu Abaoji, it was prospered after Yelu Deguang ascended the throne. Today's leather room army is divided into five armies. The left, right, south, north and yellow room armies, a total of 30,000 elite cavalry. All of them are wearing heavy armor, with as few as three horses and one soldier, and as many as five horses and one soldier, and they move very quickly. ”

In the Wende Palace, the chief executive and the cardinal envoys were all present, and the privy envoy Wang Pu held the secret scroll in his hand, explaining in detail the internal situation of the Khitans.

"As for the Shan army, it was established by Empress Shu Luping. After several dynasties, today, there are about 20,000 elites. Its subordinates are all carefully selected warriors from among the Han Dynasty......"

According to the Zhou system, Li Zhongyi, who participated in political affairs, ranked after the ministers in the political affairs hall, but he was on a par with the privy envoy Wang Pu, and his status was higher than that of the privy envoys.

Therefore, Li Zhongyi sat next to Wang Pu. He naturally heard every word Wang Pu said.

Li Zhongyi narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking. At such a good time, if Chai Rong didn't take the opportunity to send troops to the Northern Expedition to recover the Han family's hometown, then he would not be Chai Rong.

The question is, who will Chai Rong take on the expedition?

The deputy capital in front of the palace was checked, and Zhao Yuanlang, who is now essentially the head of the Great Zhou military generals, will definitely go with him.

The ten brothers of the Righteous Society, who else will there be. Following Chai Rong's Northern Expedition, this is what Li Zhongyi is most concerned about.

Especially. Zhao Yuanlang's closest brother, in front of the palace, is waiting for Shi to keep his word.

back then. Not long after Chai Rong's death, when Zhao Laoer Chen Qiao mutinied, the main coercion was the guards and pro-army Ma Bujun commanded Han Tong's soldiers and horses.

This is also an important factor in Han Tong's attempt to fight back against the rebellion, but in a hurry, he did not gather many soldiers and horses.

However, the most important hero responsible for opening the gate of Kaifeng and letting Zhao Yuanlang's rebels enter Beijing was Shi Shouxin.

In the past, Li Zhongyi only read history books and did not know the mystery of the Chenqiao Mutiny. Now, he has long understood that if it weren't for the internal and external collusion, Zhao Yuanlang, who did not carry large siege equipment, would never have been able to take Kaifeng City, which is high and deep, in the short term.

Military power, as long as he thought of these two words, Li Zhongyi suddenly felt a headache.

Politics comes out of the barrel of a gun, whether in history or in reality, it is unreasonable!

Li Zhongyi's current status, although much higher than Zhao Yuanlang, is a pity that he has no actual military power in his hands.

Although there are tens of thousands of people in the left and right wings of the Beijing Division, Li Zhongyi knows very well in his heart that these so-called troops, who hardly participate in training and whose main business is to do chores for the families of the powerful, in addition to bullying and bullying the common people, their combat strength is extremely weak, and they are simply embarrassed to fight.

The military power of Kaifeng City is very involved. Under Chai Rong's nose, even though Li Zhongyi was proficient in the art of military training, he didn't have the courage to reorganize the Beijing Division and the Xiang Army into a tiger and wolf army.

After Wang Pu finished introducing the military situation of the Khitans, Chai Rong raised his chin and asked Fan Qin lightly: "Fan Qing, military resources, ordnance, food and horses, how are you prepared?" ”

Fan Zhen got up and arched his hand and said, "The grain and grass are safe...... There are slightly fewer horses, and the cavalry training time is very short, so I am afraid that it will be embarrassing to fight. ”

Li Zhongyi sensed from Fan Zhen's tone of voice that the prime minister's words had the meaning of encouraging him to go on the expedition, and it was obvious that he should have reached a consensus with Chai Rong in advance.

According to Li Zhongyi's understanding, the prime minister and Jinshang wore the same pants, and no matter how much others objected, it was all in vain.

However, at this juncture, the privy envoy Wang Pu actually took the initiative to step forward and earnestly persuaded: "Your Majesty, the major affairs of the soldier country must not be ignored. Now, although the Khitans are mired in civil strife, after all, they have a large army and a vast territory......"

What everyone didn't expect was that Chai Rong didn't care about the dignity of Zaizhi, and slapped Wang Pu in the face in public, "You don't need to say much, I have made up my mind, and I swear to die in the Northern Expedition to recover the lost land of my Han family." ”

Finding that Wang Pu's face was pale, and the sleeves of his robe trembled, Li Zhongyi couldn't help but nod secretly.

Before Chai Rong died, although he arranged for Wang Pu to return to the political hall, Wang Pu secretly colluded with Zhao Yuanlang and usurped the Chai family.

"This expedition to the Northern Expedition, I mean, Zhao Yuanlang ......" Chai Rong called the names of more than a dozen important generals in one breath, Li Zhongyi heard it, but he didn't see Shi Shouxin's name, and Han Tong was not included in the list of the Northern Expedition.

"Zhongqing, after I led the Northern Expedition of the Sixth Army, the crown prince was in charge of the seal and supervised the country, and the political affairs hall complemented each other. The matter of the war was discussed by the two governments and reported to me. Daily government affairs, the prince supervises it. When Chai Rong said this, he suddenly named Li Zhongyi, "Li Wuyi, I have dismissed you as the commander of the left and right wings of the Jingshi Xiang Army, and the right and right guards of Yulin are both in command of the envoys." ”

Li Zhongyi couldn't believe his ears, and the military power he dreamed of actually returned to his arms again in Chai Rong's thoughts.

Yulin Right Guard, in fact, is the new army trained by Li Zhongyi, which has been stationed on the bank of the Yellow River outside the north gate of Kaifeng City.

"Your Majesty, the ministers are in charge of political affairs, and then they are in charge of the military, I'm afraid that the system is not compatible?" Even if Li Zhongyi wanted to get the military power very much, he didn't dare to laugh at it immediately, and hypocritical prevarication was the attitude that a minister should have.

"I know that you have too many things to do, and you're too busy to keep your feet on the ground." Chai Rong's words suddenly changed, "The government affairs of Kaifeng Mansion will be shared by Chai Gui for you, right?" ”

Chai Gui, the Duke of Lu Guo, is the fifth brother of Chai Rong's relatives, and is currently staying in Xijing and knowing Luoyang.

The second prime minister, Li Gu, glanced at Li Zhongyi with some schadenfreude, he thought to himself, the military power of a mere Yulin right guard replaced Li Zhongyi's real power in Kaifeng Mansion, it was a big loss! (To be continued)