Before the parade ended, Yang Siqiao suddenly came to the Luoshui camp to find Xue Shao and said that he would send some messages to the princess. The military camp was highly disciplined, and the camp gate guards stopped Yang Siqiao from the camp and only came to report to Xue Shao.

Xue Shao knew that if it weren't for the forbidden event, Princess Taiping would not have called Yang Siqiao, a confidant, to pass the word. There were many people in the barracks, and Xue Shao personally went to the camp gate to call Yang Siqiao to a secluded place and asked him what was the matter.

Yang Siqiao told Xue Shao that the crown prince and Pei Yan had passed through Luoyang yesterday and entered the palace today to meet them. The two saints secretly received the two of them in the forbidden place, and it is very likely that His Majesty the Emperor has already made arrangements for the succession and entrustment. After the incident, His Majesty the Emperor may have let go of a big stone in his heart, and his heart collapsed from this, and his condition suddenly deteriorated, and he immediately fell into a coma and has not woken up yet, and it seems that he may die at any time!

Princess Taiping asked Xue Shao to be ready to adapt to the situation! In addition, Princess Taiping said that for the sake of safety, unless there is a letter from her, Xue Shao should not be in a hurry to return to Luoyang for the time being!

Xue Shao couldn't help but feel very nervous in his heart, Princess Taiping's reminder was not unreasonable. If His Majesty the Emperor is really going to die, then the 200,000 field troops outside Luoyang City are enough to control the entire Luoyang City, and it is enough to change the history and national fortunes of the Tang Dynasty. With such a powerful force, how could Pei Yan, a fierce rival, not be scrupulous? In case he hastily entered the city at this time and fell into Pei Yan's trap, not to mention being murdered by him, the possibility of being robbed of military power by him would be extremely great!

"Please reply to Her Royal Highness the Princess, I will act as if I don't know anything, just train in Luoshui." Xue Shao said, "Once there is a change in the court, be sure to inform me of the news, and I will adapt to the situation!" ”

"Yes!" Yang Siqiao solemnly promised and said goodbye and wanted to leave.

"Wait a minute." Xue Shao stopped him and admonished, "Let Her Royal Highness the Princess, be careful, take care!" ”

"The villain knows!"

Yang Siqiao left, and Xue Shao's nerves collapsed - pressing step by step, it came so fast!

Xue Shao didn't expect that less than three days after he took office as the general of the Right Guard, His Majesty the Emperor would die.

He seemed to see that the sky above Luoyang was surging. Datang, it's finally about to change!

Later, Xue Shao walked alone outside the barracks, trying to calm himself down and concentrate on thinking. He thought to himself that once His Majesty the Emperor died, the forces in the court would definitely be divided into three parties.

On one side is the new monarch Li Xian, who is about to succeed to the throne, on the other side is Wu Zetian, who is about to become the "Queen Mother", and on the other side is the prime minister of Tuogu and the minister who was left by the emperor to the new monarch, Pei Yan.

There is no doubt that these three parties will pay special attention to Xue Shao, the right guard general who holds a field army of 200,000.

So where should Xue Shao himself go?

The soldiers rose up to control the imperial court? This is undoubtedly self-defeating!

Although Xue Shao is now the commander of the 200,000-strong army, he only has the right to command and train troops, and does not have the right to transfer and use troops. What's more, a righteous king like Xijun Zheng will definitely not be loyal to a certain individual, they will only be loyal to public morality and justice!

In the military, "people's aspirations" are very important.

The reason why the soldiers of the Western Army are very supportive of Xue Shao is because Xue Shao is Pei Gong's protégé and the former deputy head of the Great March, and the soldiers eagerly hope that Xue Shao can lead them to kill the enemy and serve the country, and continue Pei Gong's unfinished will during his lifetime.

If the Western Expeditionary Army wants to follow Xue Shao to deal with the imperial court now, perhaps there is no need to wait for the imperial court to make a move, and the soldiers of the Western Expeditionary Army have already mutinied and captured Xue Shao in an instant and sent him to the imperial court for justice. The person who tied up Xue Shao may even be Xue Chuyu himself!

As a result, the idea of this "chaotic minister and thief" only flashed in Xue Shao's mind slightly, and soon disappeared without a trace. Xue Shao shook his head and smiled self-deprecatingly, thinking to himself - it turns out that the temptation of power is more deadly than the temptation of money and beauty! There are angels and demons living in everyone's hearts at the same time, but fortunately, I don't have the advantage to make my wits faint and take risks. The price of becoming a political nouveau riche is likely to be shattered, full of disasters, and a stench for 10,000 years! - For example, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo!

It seems that it will definitely not work to raise troops to be an upstart, so Xue Shao has only one choice left, choose one of the three forces to form an alliance with him!

Pei Yan, this person doesn't need to think about it, Xue Shao will exclude him as soon as possible.

Li Xian? …… His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who is about to become the new emperor, Xue Shao really can't think of any good results for following him. Even if he now has 200,000 field king divisions in his hands, the roots of this army are still held in the palm of his hand by the imperial court. In other words, the imperial court can let Xue Shao lead an army of 200,000 people, and it can also leave him with nothing overnight. And these vital things are obviously not in Li Xian's grasp!

Then, only the diva remains!

Thinking of this, Xue Shao couldn't help but take a breath of cool air! - I said that when I received the decree of thanksgiving that day, why did the queen smile so calmly, so generously, so contented, and full of expectation from me! It turned out that she had already thought very clearly, once the emperor died, I would only be left with her only ally to choose from!

If it weren't for that, how would she have agreed to the emperor appointing me to the rank of general of the Right Guard? If she doesn't agree, even if the seriously ill Li Zhi has the heart, how can he implement it?

Xue Shao couldn't help but exclaimed-"It's really a good plan!" ”

After thinking clearly, Xue Shao hurriedly returned to the barracks to gather the generals in the tent of the commander of the Central Army, and issued them the first military order after he officially took office as the general of the Right Guard-"Practice diligently and prepare for war at any time!" ”

The generals were only ready to "go out at any time", so they were all enthusiastic and ready to do their best to train the army, but the general was the first to look forward!

After dinner, Xue Shao was about to send a few scouts to enter Luoyang City at night to inquire about the information, and the camp gate guards came to report again, saying that Cen Changqian, a soldier and a scholar of the same middle school, came to the army with a large amount of mutton and fruit wine on the order of the middle palace.

"It's coming so fast!" Xue Shao couldn't help but exclaim, Cen Changqian must have come by order of the Queen of Heaven!

After thinking for a moment, Xue Shao ordered: "General Li Duozuo, you go and collect and deliver the batch of military materials." In addition, please Cen Xianggong, the Chinese military marshal's tent serves tea! ”

"Yes!" Li Duozuo solemnly promised and went out on an errand.

"Brothers, please take refuge for the time being." Xue Shao asked the others to avoid it for the time being, and listened to what Cen Changqian was going to say.

A moment later, Cen Changqian came. He led people to carry a few delicate sword boxes containing swords, and hugged his fists to Xue Shao with a spring breeze on his face: "Congratulations to Young Marshal Xue, congratulations to Young Marshal Xue!" ”

Xue Shao greeted him with a smile and returned the salute with a fist to the former boss, "Cen Xianggong, where did Xue Mouxi come from?" ”

Cen Changqian said with a smile: "In just three months, Young Marshal Xue has been awarded the post of General of the Right Guard, commanding an army of 200,000 troops, isn't this gratifying?" ”

"Xue Moujie is a martial artist, and he only knows how to lead troops to fight. No matter how big or small the generals are, they all serve the country and share the worries of the king, so why be happy? Xue Shao said with a smile, "It's Cen Xianggong, who has already visited the cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister's leader in March, which is really gratifying!" ”

"Haha!" Cen Changqian laughed, "I, a small soldier of the military department, was able to be promoted to the Pingzhang of the Tongzhong Book Sect by the Second Sage, and was able to enter the cabinet to participate in political affairs, isn't it because of your blessing?" ”

"Oh, where do you start?" Xue Shao asked a little curiously.

Cen Changqian smiled and said: "Young Marshal Xue has forgotten it, you rectified the military discipline of the Northern Ya, initiated the Northern Ya to teach martial arts, and later pacified Bai Tieyu and when recruiting the Western Expeditionary Army, you used the 'Martial Arts Method' to quickly recruit 200,000 soldiers. That's a lot of credit! - Cen Mouxi is your boss, of course, he has been credited with some credits. At the beginning of the year, the four goodness and twenty-seven of the officials were the most evaluated, and Cen was lucky to get the 'middle and upper' evaluation. Later, I brazenly won the praise of the two saints, so I was promoted and entered the cabinet! ”

Xue Shao laughed and congratulated Cen Changqian repeatedly, and had a good conversation with the former top boss.

In fact, strictly speaking, the real prime minister of the Tang Dynasty only has a few people, such as Zhongshu Ling, and the left and right servants of the monk in the door. When the two saints moved their capital to Luoyang, they left Xue Yuanchao, Pei Yan and Liu Renliang, the left servant of the Zhongshu Order, and Liu Renliang in Chang'an to assist the prince in supervising the country, which was actually temporarily "elevated".

Later, when he arrived in Luoyang, the second saint immediately began to promote several newcomers who were not too high in rank to enter the political affairs hall, and let them hang up the title of "Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhang Affairs" and take care of military affairs in the name of "deputy prime minister". Among them are two Chinese scholars, Guo Zhengyi and Wang Dezhen; In addition, Pei Yan's deputy in Menxia Province, Liu Qixian, the waiter of the Yellow Gate, and Wei Xuantong, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and the other is Xue Shao's former boss, Cen Changqian, the waiter of the Ministry of War.

Cen Changqian said that he was able to enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister only after being "stained with Xue Shao's light", but in fact, Xue Shao knew very well in his heart that Cen Changqian and some other newly promoted "deputy prime ministers" received Jun's grace, and of course they would actively serve the two saints in the political hall and speak for the two saints. This move of the two saints was largely aimed at reinvigorating the imperial power of the Middle Palace, dividing and weakening the power and influence of the three important ministers and prime ministers of Chang'an.

"I gossiped a lot, but I almost forgot to get down to business." After talking for a while, Cen Changqian said, "I was ordered to come to the Luoshui camp, one is to reward the army, and the other is to give it - Young Marshal Xue, these things are all given to you by the Queen of Heaven, you can accept it quickly!" ”

After that, Cen Changqian asked someone to put the sword boxes neatly in front of Xue Shao.

Xue Shao said curiously: "Given by the Queen of Heaven, is it a weapon?" ”

"This is no ordinary weapon." Cen Changqian smiled meaningfully and said, "The Queen of Heaven Niangniang, please move the holy decree and give Young Marshal Xue twenty swords to commend Young Marshal Xue for his military exploits in protecting the country and the people!" ”

Ban Jian Twenty?

Xue Shao couldn't help but be slightly taken aback, the "Ban Sword" is actually a decorative sword used by the ceremonial guard, which is used by the king to give to the respected veterans or the protectors of the country, so that their personal honor guards can wear them with them, so as to show their high status, outstanding merit and the favor of the king.

"Before Pei Gong was alive, he was never awarded a class sword!" Xue Shao hurriedly refused, "I still hope that Cen Xianggong will reply to the queen of heaven, and he will say that Xue is defenseless and does not dare to receive it!" ”

"Young Marshal Xue, you better take it! The queen of heaven gave you twenty swords, and you have your own intentions. Cen Changqian leaned closer and persuaded in a low voice.

Xue Shao frowned slightly, "I still hope that Cen Xianggong will dial it, what is the meaning of the queen of heaven?" ”