The season of early spring is a little cool, after the hustle and bustle of the first day, Chang'an City has been lively for nearly half a month, even the emperor has decreed the cancellation of the curfew, which can make people carnival all night, similar to Pingkangfang, Anningfang and other wine shops and brothels are lit all night.

For the lower-class people, the Yuan Day is a rare and lively good day, but for the upper-level officials, it is the most extraordinary Yuan Day, without him, because at the Yuan Day of the Great Court Meeting, a great news broke out, the crown princess is pregnant!

You must know that the East Palace has always been a heart disease of the officials, His Royal Highness the Prince is virtuous, virtuous, benevolent and filial, but there has been no heir, and now the news is released on the first day, which can really be described as double happiness.

However, even under the harmony of the universal celebration, some people with keen senses also noticed that the pattern in Chang'an City was quietly changing, and the most fundamental reason was that His Royal Highness King Yongwang officially participated in the court meeting, and although His Majesty the Emperor had a lukewarm attitude at the court meeting, he did not express his dissatisfaction with this matter, so that some people in Chang'an City began to move.

The most direct change is that the originally deserted Yongwang Mansion suddenly became full of guests, and countless officials with and without high grades have gone to Yongwang Mansion to deliver their worship posts, and His Royal Highness Yongwang also received all the orders, in any case, I am afraid that for the bigwigs in the court, I am afraid that this Yuan day is not very stable.

However, Li Hong didn't have the heart to take care of these things, because on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the Western Expedition army finally returned to Chang'an City!

It was different from the last time Pei Xingjian had a guard and returned to the city alone. This time, the greeting scene can be described as a big one.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in front of him, and there are hundreds of civil and military officials behind him. Standing in shifts, they all wore court clothes. With a solemn face, even the British Duke Li Ji, who rarely shows up, is standing at the forefront of the generals with a smile on his face at the moment, and on Wenchen's side, although the new Zhongshu Ling Hao Chujun is also there, but in terms of qualifications, it is a little shallow, and it is still headed by Xu Jingzong.

It was noon, but there was no impatience on everyone's faces. Not long after, a team of small school Pegasus came in the distance, and a big flag stretched in front of them was written with a big "Pei" word!

"His Royal Highness the Prince, the army has arrived five miles outside Chang'an City, General Pei has ordered the army to set up camp, and ordered us to come first to report, please show His Royal Highness the Prince!"

The little school leader had a solemn face, turned over and dismounted. Hurriedly walked in front of Li Hong, bowed to the worship, and said in a deep voice.

Li Hong said with a smile on his face.

"This general has worked hard. Let's go down and rest for a while, and when General Pei returns, the army will be rewarded! ”

Let's talk about it. Someone took the envoy who came all the way down to rest, while Li Hong took a cadre of ministers to continue to wait.

It stands to reason. In fact, the army returned victorious, especially such a big victory. It should be greeted by the Son of Heaven in person, but this time the situation is special, Li Zhi's wind dizziness has not completely recovered, and he cannot go out of the city to suffer the wind, and the Empress Wu is pregnant, counting the days, I am afraid that the day of delivery is in the near future, and it is inconvenient for the emperor to leave the palace, and the matter of welcoming the army naturally fell on Li Hong's head.

And according to the rules, the army is not allowed to enter the city, even if Pei Xingjian claims to be an army of 300,000, but most of them have returned to their original stations on the way back to Beijing, and the soldiers they brought back are all soldiers who have made meritorious contributions in the war, but there are still a lot of them.

Therefore, as usual, these people can only wait outside the city, and the only ones who can really be reviewed and awarded by the emperor are Pei Xingjian's personal guard army and the soldiers who have made great contributions in the war.

Now that the vanguard has arrived, it means that Pei Xingjian has already arranged the affairs of the army, and I am afraid that it is not far from here.

Sure enough, not long after, there was a bigger royal flag than just now, the difference was that it was embroidered with a big "Tang" character in red thread, followed by Pei Xingjian's handsome flag.

And the first person, wearing armor, and the white horse under his crotch is abnormal, completely no longer the gray look when he returned to Beijing, replaced by a high-spirited and calm state, like a peerless sword in the sheath, and the occasional sword blade is convincing.

It is Pei Xingjian, the commander of the Western Expedition Army!

"Minister Pei Xingjian has seen His Royal Highness the Prince!"

From a distance, Pei Xingjian saw Li Hong waiting at the city gate, and when he arrived at the city gate, he immediately turned over and dismounted, bowed and worshipped, and said in a respectful voice.

In fact, with Pei Xingjian's status, there was no need to be like this, but this time it was different, Li Hong was going out to greet the emperor instead of the emperor this time, so he naturally had to make a big gift.

After a pause, Pei Xingjian continued.

"The minister has been ordered to fight against rebellion since May, and now that the Turks have been pacified, and the army has returned triumphantly, I hereby give the order, and return the military talisman, please check it!"

After that, the little colonel beside Pei Xingjian took out a heavy thrift, and Pei Xingjian also took out the talisman in charge of the army.

When the army returned to the city, the first thing was naturally to return the talisman, which was supposed to be, and Li Hong was not surprised, he waved his hand at the moment, and an official from the military department stepped forward to check the talisman.

After tossing and turning, Li Hong smiled gently, but he didn't reach out to help Pei Xingjian up.

"General Pei has worked hard! My father has already set up a banquet in the palace to wash the dust for the general! ”

After a pause, Li Hong took out a holy decree from his sleeve and read it lightly.

"Under the door, the general of the Dingxiang Road march, the general Pei Xingjian of Qianniuwei was ordered to go out to fight to exterminate the Turkic rebellion, and now he returned with a great victory, and made immortal meritorious deeds for the court, I am very relieved, and he was given the title of Wenxi County Gong, and the hussar general, and his wife Lu Shi was awarded the second rank of the edict, and the son of Zhun Yin, all the meritorious soldiers were all in accordance with the military department's policy and merits, and the soldiers of the Western Expedition were given 100,000 gold, 30,000 horses, and the meritorious soldiers returned home!"

Pei Xingjian's reward had been agreed before, so naturally there was no surprise, but Li Hong read out the holy decree on this solemn occasion, which means that the imperial court truly recognized his merits, and the rewards for the soldiers of the Western Expedition can be regarded as very rich.

And this time it is according to the military merits, which means that all the soldiers who have made contributions in the war can make meritorious contributions and get the title, which can be regarded as the emperor's grace.

After this toss, Li Hong reached out to help Pei Xingjian, but at this moment, a discordant voice suddenly appeared.

"Where is Your Majesty the Emperor? I, the Turkic Khan, are here, why don't I see His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty? ”

Li Hong glanced lightly in the direction where the voice came from, but saw a bearded man with an ugly face and shouted. (To be continued.) )