It was indeed Yuan Zhenqian's Northwest Army that came from the northwest. After being blocked by the Liao army for nearly twenty days in Taiyuan Province, the Northwest Army finally conquered Taiyuan Province five days ago and opened the passage to reinforce Bianliang. Although there were only 190,000 left in the 250,000-strong army, including more than 20,000 wounded soldiers, Yuan Zhenqian did not stop at all, and after taking Taiyuan, he led 150,000 cavalry to rush to help. The journey, which was supposed to take only three days, had to be delayed for two days because of heavy snowfall, and it was not until dusk five days later that they reached the west of the capital.

But a good meal is not afraid of being late, and they came at the right time. It was the most critical time in Bianliang City, and Yuan Zhenqian's arrival was as timely as sending charcoal in the snow, and the Jurchens decisively chose to withdraw their troops in the face of this situation.

When it was dark, Yuan Zhenqian led more than 100 generals to gallop into Bianliang City from Wansheng Gate in Xicheng, and after entering the inner city through the old Liang Gate, there were already generals of the forbidden army waiting here, and hundreds of horses galloped through the long street, straight into the palace.

In the Chongzheng Palace, the lights are bright. Guo Xu, Lu Zhongtian and others stood on the tall steps of the Chongzheng Hall and waited for Yuan Zhenqian's arrival, Yuan Zhenqian dismounted at the bottom of the steps, ran up the stone steps in three steps and two steps, and wanted to kowtow to Guo Xu, who was coming with a smile on his face.

"Yuan Zhenqian knocked to see the emperor, long live my emperor!"

Guo Xu laughed and stretched out his hand to pull him up, and said loudly: "General Yuan is exempt, exempt." General Yuan, a meritorious servant, came all the way to the capital to relieve the siege, and worked hard. Flatten! ”

Yuan Zhenqian was ashamed and said: "Your Majesty, the micro-ministers are extremely ashamed, the micro-ministers are too late to save the driver, and the emperor and the soldiers and civilians in the capital are frightened, this is all the minister's mistake." The minister planned to take Taiyuan Mansion in a few days, but he did not detour in time, and did not realize that the Liao people's ambition to defend the city was very strong, but later it was difficult to ride a tiger and delayed too much time. Please also ask the emperor to punish the sins of his ministers. ”

Guo Xu laughed and said: "Punishment? That's serious, you came at the right time, sooner or later, this is God's will, this is God bless me Da Zhou Guozuo, everything is arranged, hahahaha. ”

As soon as Guo Xu said this, the ministers also laughed. Lu Zhongtian also said on the side: "Yes, what the emperor said is very true, everything is the best arrangement, it is the will of heaven." Lord Yuan arrived in time to deter the Jurchens and teach the Jurchens to return with a feather, which was a great achievement. In addition, the Northwest Army broke the enemy of the Liao Army in Taiyuan Prefecture, and even defeated two strong enemies in a row, who can take such a credit? Lord Yuan, don't be humble, come into the palace and sit down, the emperor specially set up a celebration banquet for you in the Chongzheng Palace. Hold a banquet in the Chongzheng Hall to celebrate, you are the first person since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty. ”

Yuan Zhenqian hurriedly stepped forward to salute Lu Zhongtian, in the final analysis, he is a person loyal to Lu Zhongtian, but at this time, he naturally has to see the emperor first.

Guo Xu personally poured wine for Yuan Zhenqian, and led all the civil and military forces to Yuan Zhenqian, Yuan Zhenqian was really flattered, his hands trembled with excitement, and he almost knocked over the wine cup. After three rounds of drinking, everyone couldn't help but talk about today's battle, and they all had lingering palpitations. Although the casualty statistics have not yet been fully released, a rough estimate of the casualties on both sides has been roughly outlined. In today's battle, the Great Zhou Forbidden Army suffered more than 37,000 casualties, and the Liao people suffered at least 50,000 casualties. In the past half a day and a few hours, the city wall of Beicheng devoured tens of thousands of lives like a man-eating tiger's mouth, and created more than 50,000 disabled soldiers and horses.

Many of these people will not survive tonight because the injuries are too severe. In the coming period, many people will die from infections or worsening injuries.

In addition to sighing, some people also loudly praised the divine power of the emperor who came to the battlefield and participated in the battle in person. Yuan Zhenqian was also amazed. He told Guo Xu: "When the minister was thirty miles away, he heard the scouts in the army report that there was a colorful yellow dragon flag raised at the head of the city, which meant that the emperor was on the battlefield in person. The minister was full of admiration at that time. The emperor is so powerful, the army and the people are all inspired, if the first merit of this battle is discussed, it should be recorded on the emperor's head. The ministers are fearless for the emperor's fearless spirit. ”

Guo Xu laughed, his eyes involuntarily glanced at Lu Zhongtian, and he was complacent in his heart. Although it was a last resort to go to war today, today's move is obviously a shock to some people. It's like a gambler who gambles a lot, and the situation of losing all is in front of him, so he has to bet on his life, but in the end he wins this game of life and death, and it will be clear immediately. When he came down from the city, Guo Xu could clearly feel the genuine admiration and admiration in the eyes of the ministers and generals, as well as ordinary soldiers and ordinary people, which he had never felt since he ascended the throne. Guo Xu also seems to have vaguely found the secret of letting himself sit on the throne, which is by no means the danger of the improper throne that he was worried about before, but whether he has acted and taken responsibility, whether he has the courage and action to make everyone look up, and it has nothing to do with his corrupt actions of killing his brother and forcing his father to die. What the people want is an emperor who can take on the role at a critical time, and they don't care how you came to be the emperor.

Guo Xu regrets that he only began to understand this truth until today, but he thinks that it seems that it is not too late. As long as he survives the current crisis, he is confident that he can regain the initiative and achieve the goal he wants. Of course, in addition to the Jurchens, the biggest enemy who hinders him is the one who has exposed his ambitions and sees himself as a plaything in the applause. The person you once trusted and relied on will be the biggest obstacle to you.

"The emperor's behavior today is very brave, and it really boosts the morale of the soldiers. The old minister also admired it very much. However, Lao Chen still believes that such a move is not advisable. The emperor's behavior of putting himself in a dangerous place is very immature and thoughtless, and he hopes that the emperor will not insist on going his own way in the future and make such a risk. Lu Zhongtian said these words lightly, and he sneered at Guo Xu's smugness. Today is just Guo Xu's luck, otherwise his behavior today is to find death. He wanted to pour a scoop of cold water on Guo Xu, so that he would not be immersed in smug emotions.

Guo Xu drank a lot of wine, and his courage was much stronger than usual. In addition, I have an epiphany today, and I am even more unwilling to make promises. Hearing this, he laughed and said: "Lu Xiang is also my Great Zhou Privy Envoy, but when you are fighting, you don't know where you are. I am the emperor and the grandson of Lu Xiang, so naturally I can't ask the elder to come to the dangerous battlefield in person, so part of the reason for my behavior today is to take risks for you. lest the people in the future say that you have done nothing as a privy minister. Well, your privy councillor was a temporary position, and I can't ask you to do more. But now that I feel that there is a new candidate for the position of privy envoy of the Great Zhou, I wonder if my grandfather can agree to me appointing Yuan Zhenqian as the privy envoy? Just by virtue of his great merit of leading the army to save Bianliang in time today, and by virtue of his merit of breaking the Liao army in Taiyuan, too

You deserve to be commended. ”

Lu Zhongtian's heart was shocked and shocked. With his wisdom, he would naturally immediately understand what Guo Xu was doing. Guo Xu wanted to give up the post of privy envoy himself and grant it to Yuan Zhenqian, which was obviously a kind of wooing. Guo Xu's idea is probably not only to give Yuan Zhenqian a reward, but to pull Yuan Zhenqian towards himself, and even seems to want to make Yuan Zhenqian an opponent against him. Guo Xu seems to have let go.

"No, no, no, how can Weichen He De be able to take on such a big responsibility? The emperor must not, but the minister does not have that ability. The position of privy envoy can only be held by Lu Xiang, and Weichen will never dare to think of anything wrong. Yuan Zhenqian himself was also taken aback, although the position of privy envoy of the Great Zhou Dynasty was quite attractive to him, how could he take this position from Lu Zhongtian. No matter how much I think about it in my heart, I can only be humble in my mouth.

"Why not? The privy council is not an official position, but a great responsibility. Whoever holds this position at this moment will have the responsibility of retreating from the enemy. I want you to be responsible, don't you want to take responsibility? Lu Xianghe has a lot of opportunities every day, and he is still busy with his own work in his old age, can you bear it? I think you should be loyal only if you do what you do. Guo Xu began to catch ducks on the shelves.

"No, no, no, Weichen is incompetent and dare not accept it." Yuan Zhenqian resigned.

One insisted on conferring the official position of privy envoy, and the other waved his hand to resign, which seemed like a farce. Lu Zhongtian frowned and was silent, but Chen Jue and the others couldn't stand it.

"Your Majesty, how can such a major event be hasty? The emperor can't do this on a whim. The Privy Councillor has a great responsibility and can not be easily replaced. Even if it is a replacement, it will have to be discussed later, and the timing is not right at the moment. The emperor thought twice. Chen Jue said in a deep voice.

Guo Xu shook his head and smiled: "Chen Jue, I'm afraid you don't understand what I mean, I made such a decision precisely because of the current situation." Do you think Yuan Zhenqian is not suitable to be a privy envoy? ”

Chen Jue was speechless for a while, stunned. Guo Xu's words are obviously a trick, that is, to provoke dissatisfaction between Yuan Zhenqian and Chen Jue. This is borrowing strength to deliberately take Chen Ying on the crooked road, Chen Jue nodded and shook his head. Nodding his head is to admit that he thinks Yuan Zhenqian is not worthy of being a privy envoy, and shaking his head is to think that Yuan Zhenqian is competent, so there is no reason to object. At a critical time, Guo Xu's IQ was bursting, and he used his strength to make Chen Jue speechless.

Since the emperor thinks that Lord Yuan is competent, the old man naturally agrees. Early tomorrow morning, the emperor will appoint him, and the old man is indeed tired enough. The old man was anxious about defending the city, and finally someone was willing to give the old man a light lift, but it was too late for the old man to be happy. That's it. Lu Zhongtian said in a deep voice.

"Daddy, how can you say yes?" Lu Tianci exclaimed in astonishment. Chen Jue, Zhu Zhirong, Wang Jun and others also cried out in shock, Lu Xiang really wanted to let Xian? How can this be done?

"Lu Xiang, by all means. Only Lu Xiang's prestige can stabilize the situation, how can Lu Xiang be like this at this moment? This time, the army's heart is floating. ”

"Yes, Lu Xiangsi thinks twice, the position of privy envoy is not something that anyone can do, absolutely not." The crowd stopped.

"The old man has made up his mind, so there is no need to say more. Your Majesty, the old man drank a few more glasses, his head was a little dizzy, and he wanted to go back to rest earlier. Lord Yuan, the old man is sluggish, if he has time in the future, the old man will accompany you to drink a few more glasses. Leave! Lu Zhongtian interrupted everyone's words and stood up to salute.