Xue Shao heard Pei Xingjian say the words "beautiful man", and immediately smiled bitterly and said: "Pei Gong, as long as I can win the battle, it will be no problem for me to be born and die." Beautiful men, I personally have no objection. But if someone else were to know the truth, she might roar and get angry! ”

Pei Xingjian didn't know that Xue Shao was talking about Princess Taiping, he was still smiling, and only said: "Don't worry, the old man is not confused to that extent." This matter will be discussed later, and then I will issue a notice to this group of proud soldiers and fierce generals under your command! ”

"It's fine."

Afterwards, Pei Xingjian, Xue Shao, Su Wei and others took a large stack of official vouchers to the front of the queue of the Three Swords Brigade.

Looking at the dazzling official vouchers made of vermilion glue paint, the guards of the Three Knife Brigade were all excited and enthusiastic.

For a nobleman like Xue Shao and a child of a family, being an official may be a natural thing, and there is nothing worth writing about. But for these ordinary guards of the Three Swords Brigade from humble backgrounds, it was a major event that changed their lives and even changed the descendants of their families.

After this paper was handed down, the people of the Three Swords Brigade completed the shocking transformation from "people" to "officials". From then on, they will enjoy the high social, political and economic treatment that they did not dare to achieve in the past, and they can confidently marry the daughters of the gentry and wealthy families, and their children and descendants will have a good family background and family background.

In short, they are like ten years of hard study, once the imperial examination and the first place, they have completed the feat of carp jumping over the dragon gate.

"Chengyu, you come." Pei Xingjian gave Xue Shao a lot of face, and asked Su Wei to hand over those official certificates to Xue Shao, and let Xue Shao issue these appointments.

"Thank you, Gong Pei."

Xue Shao took the large stack of official certificates, looked at the brothers under him with a smile, and opened one of them first.

"Guo An!" Xue Shao shouted.

"No!" Guo An stood up loudly and promised.

Xue Shao looked at the official certificate, then looked at Guo An, and said with a smile: "Yes, the position of the commander of this brigade has been replaced by you - from today on, you will be the commander of the third brigade of the Yue Cavalry Regiment of the First Mansion of the Right Guard!" ”

"Yes!" Guo An was a little trembling with excitement, and his voice trembled.

"Y-what?" Xue Shao asked loudly.

"Defend the !! to the Death"

Xue Shao smiled, and slapped Guo An's chest with a heavy resignation, "It's yours!" ”

"Chen Yuanyi!"

"No!"

"The first team of the second brigade of the Zuowu Weiyi Mansion Yue Cavalry Regiment is positive!"

"Swear to defend it!"

"Cui Qingfeng!"

"No!"

"Zuo Wu Weixun's second mansion rode Cao to join the army!"

"Swear to defend it!"

……

Except for Xue Shao, Guo Yuanzhen and Xue Chuyu, all the guards of the Three Swords Brigade were promoted to officers of the sixth to eighth rank by the firing line. With the sound of "swearing to the death", the official body was issued one by one.

Pei Xingjian stepped forward, "First of all, this marshal congratulates you on being honored as generals!" ”

"Thank you Pei Gong!" The guards of the Three Swords Brigade were excited.

Pei Xingjian nodded with a smile, "You are all very good, you are the backbone and hope of the future of the Tang Army." This commander hopes that you will continue to maintain and carry forward the spirit of the Three Swords Brigade when you arrive in your respective ranks. Let the oath and action of 'swearing to the death and defending it' spread across all the armies of Datang! ”

"Swear to defend it!" The guards of the Three Swords Brigade shouted loudly.

"You still have a few days to work with Xue Shao." Pei Xingjian said, "Ben Shuai knows that the brotherly relationship between you is very deep. However, the commander would like to remind you that soldiers must give priority to obeying military orders and do not act on feelings. After the great military lecture is over, all of you will belong to your own army and do your duty. When the time comes, there will be no delay or objection! ”

"Yes!" The guards of the Three Swords Brigade agreed together, and their voices were somewhat sad.

"The old man is done, take the first step." Pei Xingjian said, "Chengyu, I'll leave it to you." ”

After that, Pei Xingjian left.

Xue Shao smiled and said, "Brother, it's for a lifetime." Even if we don't see each other for 30 years, we will still be brothers when we get together again! ”

As soon as Xue Shao's words fell, many of the guards of the Three Swords Brigade burst into tears.

"It's all gone, go back and settle the accounts." Xue Shao ordered, "Tomorrow morning, practice as usual!" ”

"Yes!"

The men of the Three Swords Brigade gradually dispersed silently.

Guo Yuanzhen shook his head and sighed: "I'm really a little reluctant to part with them." ”

Xue Chuyu said lightly: "You will get used to it." ”

Guo Yuanzhen was a little annoyed, "Are you relying on the old and selling the old?" ”

"I'm already older than you." Xue Chuyu said with a smile, "I am a veteran of four years of military experience, and my footprints are all over Helong, the Imperial Palace and Beisai. What about you? ”

Guo Yuanzhen rolled his eyes and wittily changed the topic, "I heard someone in the ranks muttering, saying, 'Thank you to the Queen of Heaven' - could it be that these officials are issued by order of the Queen of Heaven?" ”

Xue Shao and Xue Chuyu both laughed, and Xue Shao said: "When Duke Pei was leaving, the imperial court granted him the right to act cheaply, including the right to reward meritorious deeds and promote generals below the fifth rank with exceptions. However, Pei Gong has always been cautious, although he has such power, but for the promotion of the guards of the Three Swords Brigade, he still reported to the imperial court for instructions. This new batch of official certificates is the reply given by the imperial court. I think this should not be the private claim of the queen of heaven, after all, the defenders of the Three Swords Brigade have won the jump and the reduction of merit, which is a sure fact. These official positions are what they deserve. ”

"Then why do they say thank you to the diva?" Guo Yuanzhen was puzzled.

Xue Chuyu smiled indifferently, "I know the truth, but I don't dare to say it." ”

"Why?" Guo Yuanzhen wondered.

"I'm afraid that some people will say that I rely on the old and sell the old." Xue Chuyu is a serious way.

Xue Shaoha's big smile made Guo Yuanzhen angry, "If you have a fart, let it go!" ”

Xue Chuyu also laughed for a while, and then said: "In the early years, when I joined the army, I repeatedly heard the veterans who had been honored and rewarded in the army say things like 'thank you to the queen of heaven'. At that time, I was also curious, so I asked. The old soldiers told me that after the queen became queen, she put forward the policy program of '12 suggestions', and implemented some policies of lightly paying for the poor, treating soldiers well, and stopping the war. After that, a national policy that was very beneficial to the meritorious defenders was implemented, that is, 'the exemption of honorable officials from trial'. This means that after returning to the countryside, the honorable officers who have made meritorious contributions before the battle can be exempted from the inspection and verification of the local government after returning to the countryside, and directly receive the due rewards of land, houses, cattle, sheep, slaves and maids. ”

"As soon as you say it, I remember." Guo Yuanzhen patted his head, "I have also been a county lieutenant in the past, and I have handled this kind of incident. Whenever there is a war in the country, a large number of defenders return to their hometowns. After returning to their hometowns, the local government and yamen will reward them for their meritorious deeds and allocate land, houses, cattle and sheep to them. However, in the past, the local yamen had a strict censorship system for honored officials, and it was inevitable that there would be delays and greed for ink when doing things, so that many guards who had been honored and returned to their hometowns could not receive the rewards they deserved after a lapse of seven or eight years, and even failed to do so after a long time. Therefore, many veteran officers are extremely dissatisfied with the government, and there are fewer and fewer people who are willing to join the army. ”

Xue Chuyu smiled, "It seems that I am a class with an axe, and I forgot that General Guo used to be a county lieutenant." ”

Xue Shao laughed again, Xue Chuyu is clearly which pot is not opened and which pot is not mentioned, who doesn't know that Guo Yuanzhen went to the "mixed underworld" when he was a county lieutenant, and then was carried to Chang'an by the queen of heaven to manage the warehouse for a few years?

"Hugh has to make fun of me, I've long since changed my ways!" Guo Yuanzhen glanced at Xue Chuyu angrily, and then said: "Actually, I don't think that the honorable officer's exemption from trial will not make these brothers of the Three Swords Brigade say things like 'thank you to the Queen of Heaven'. More importantly, perhaps because of another national policy implemented after the queen of heaven participated in politics! ”

Xue Shao's brows furrowed slightly, "You mean, surname?" ”

"That's right!" Guo Yuanzhen said, "In the early years, the Queen of Heaven issued the "Surname Directory", and the rank of the official was determined by the rank of the official. And the queen of heaven has been actively advocating the recruitment of talents from the poor family without sticking to one pattern, so that many poor scholars and ordinary guards in the army have the opportunity to climb to the top and change their lives. Take today's brothers who have been promoted because of merit, they have official positions, and since then they have families, their children and grandchildren have their origins, and the whole family has followed the scenery. ”

"This is called a person attaining the Tao and a chicken and dog ascending to heaven." Xue Shaodao, "In the more than 20 years of the queen's career as the queen, some of the governance programs she implemented have indeed brought hope and motivation to many poor people and ordinary people to work hard and be positive. This made the court and army of the Tang Dynasty full of talents and vitality. ”

"But in this way, those stubborn and old-fashioned traditional old clans and gate valves will inevitably have a lot of criticism for the queen of heaven!" Guo Yuanzhen inadvertently said this sentence.

Xue Shao and Xue Chuyu glared at him together.

Guo Yuanzhen's expression froze, and he smiled dryly, "I forgot, both of you are children of the Xue family in Hedong......"

"Beat him!"

Xue Shao shouted, Guo Yuanzhen ran away, and the three of them chased and played, like children.

Although she was having fun, Xue Shao's heart suddenly seemed to be like a flash of inspiration, and she had an unprecedented consciousness - Fang Cai's words made me realize a problem, Wu Zetian has been actively cultivating her "mass base" in the more than 20 years she has been the queen. Some of her policies have won her a lot of praise and support among the vast number of civilians, children of poor families, and ordinary guards of the army.

In the superstructure of the Tang Dynasty, dignitaries, Confucian scholars, and especially the royal family of the Li family have always been very disgusted with Wu Zetian, who "women interfere in politics". But Wu Zetian is very smart, she knows that she can't really win the support and support of the upper echelons, so she has been committed to uniting a large number of people and taking a mass line!

It has always been that those who win the hearts of the people win the world.

In fact, there are not a few women in history who are good at power and hold power. But the woman who really ascended the throne and became the emperor was only Wu Zetian.

Xue Shao couldn't help but say that history always has its accidents and inevitability. "Mass line", is this an important prerequisite for Wu Zetian to finally be able to step onto the stage of history and become the only empress in Chinese history?