On August 15 of the sixteenth year of Yongping, the soldiers of the Jin Kingdom, which was supposed to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, did not have the opportunity to return home and reunite with the family to enjoy the bright moon, because in the afternoon of this day, the two armies of the Jin State and the Khitan State fought, and the Khitan State was finally defeated, losing more than 50,000 soldiers and horses, and the Jin army narrowly won the victory, which was exchanged for three years of peace on the border.

The mighty army returned to the dynasty on the second day, because Liu Zhiyuan was frustrated and in a trance, so he returned to the dynasty with the army, and the third prince Mu Wang Xiao Mulin led 80,000 elite soldiers to guard the northern border.

"Second brother, you can rest assured that the northern border will be handed over to me, one day with me, I will not let the Khitan Tatars step into my big promotion!" Xiao Mulin patted his chest and assured Xiao Mufeng.

"I believe you, it's just that the north is hard, I'm afraid I'm going to wronged you to suffer here." Xiao Mufeng's eyes were full of distress.

"It's better to be at ease at this border than to go back and suffer those dogs, you don't have to worry about me, with me here, at least I have military power in hand, in case of trouble, I can also help you." Xiao Mulin turned around and waved his sleeves to block the discomfort on his face.

"His Royal Highness King Ning, Lin Shuai asked Xiao to inform you that the time has come and you are going to leave for the court." A young man bowed with both hands and reminded gently.

"Third brother, take care of yourself, if you have time, I will definitely come to see you." Xiao Mufeng said loudly.

"If you don't disgrace your life, you have to work hard! When you and Ah Zhi get married, remember to bring me some candy! Xiao Mulin laughed, and then the two shook each other's palms, their eyes full of trust.

Looking at the slowly moving army, that smile finally slipped away from the corner of Xiao Mulin's mouth, and all that was left was endless loneliness and reluctance.

After three days of traveling, the army is finally about to return to Luoyang City.

In the early morning of August 18, the sixteenth year of Yongping, the army arrived outside the Xuanwu Gate of Luoyang City, and waited for a while, the old emperor Xiao Jingjiao walked out of the Xuanwu Gate with hundreds of civil and military officials to greet him.

In less than three months, the gray hair of the old emperor's temples has all turned into silver threads, and the wrinkles on his face have deepened a few wisps between talking and laughing, but the two pairs of eyes shoot a shrewd and sharp gaze like an eagle, and the bright yellow dragon embroidered brocade robe on his body shines in the morning light, and the golden dragon pattern on the brocade robe seems to be lifelike as if he is about to fly over the sky.

When there was still a distance of five feet, Lin Chengde and Lin Qingzhi behind him leaned down and knelt on the ground, and the tens of thousands of soldiers behind him also fell to their knees, shouting: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

Seeing this scene, the old emperor approached Lin Chengde with a smile on his face, raised his hand to help the latter and said: "Aiqing doesn't need to be polite, you not only defeated Wu and Chu, but now you have repelled the Khitan and made immortal achievements, which is really to promote the prestige of my Great Jin Dynasty, congratulations!" ”

Although the old emperor's face was full of smiles, but a round of cold light flashed under his eyes, and even Lin Chengde, who looked up, couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart when he saw it, and knelt down again and said: "The emperor said this is really a torment for the old minister, and today I can return victoriously, all thanks to the emperor's grace, God bless me Dajin, in addition, His Royal Highness King Ning is wise and brave, and it is really gratifying and respectable to go deep into the enemy camp but win a big victory, and the victory in the north is all the bloody struggle of hundreds of thousands of sons and daughters of my Great Jin, and the ministers dare not take credit." ”

When the emperor saw Lin Chengde's performance and words, the coldness in his eyes softened a little, and his smile was even more pretended to be surprised: "I don't need to be polite, why did Aiqing kneel down again, get up quickly, you are too humble, if you don't lead the army well, how can you keep me safe and sound, what reward do you want, just say, I will definitely agree!" ”

"As an important minister of the court, the minister should contribute to the country, and the emperor has always treated the minister well, how can he ask for any reward, I just ask the emperor to pay more attention to the families of the soldiers who died in the war, and reward the sons and daughters of the army to show the emperor's deep kindness." Lin Chengde's eyes were full of respect and admiration.

"Good! The officers and men in the army fought for the country regardless of life and death, and they should be rewarded, where is Li Chengqi, the secretary of the Ministry of War? The Emperor asked solemnly.

"The minister is here!" A middle-aged man in a purple official uniform, with a chubby figure and squinting eyes, walked up to the emperor, knelt down and said loudly.

"Spread my will, all meritorious generals and officers will be promoted to two levels, each soldier will be rewarded with ten taels of silver, those who perform well will be promoted as appropriate, and the fallen soldiers will be compensated separately, and the holy decree will arrive later." The Emperor said loudly.

"In addition, the victory in this battle, Lin Chengde, the left minister, was the most contributional, and the left minister was named the general who protected the country! Ten pearls, fifty brocades, and two thousand taels of silver! "The general of the protector is the highest military position in the army, and even Lin Chengde was quite surprised by the emperor's move, and Lin Qingzhi couldn't help but raise his head to show surprise when he heard this, just in front of the emperor's smiling eyes.

"Zhi'er, come to me." The emperor smiled kindly at Lin Qingzhi and beckoned, Lin Qingzhi raised her steps and walked in front of the emperor, and said softly with both hands: "Qingzhi has seen the emperor." ”

"Why do you see it like this, if you throw away the red tape of the heavenly family, you should also call me uncle, but unfortunately, for so many years, it has been less cordial and homely for ordinary people, and I have also heard about your deeds in the army, tiger father has no dog girl, and you also have the demeanor of your mother who did not let her eyebrows be shaved."

At this moment, the emperor seemed to be a loving father, but the wary gaze that looked at Lin Chengde just now made Lin Qingzhi still feel related, so he smiled and said gently: "Zhi'er thanks the emperor for the reward, but Zhi'er has a humble opinion, whether as a son or a daughter, she should take the safety of the country as her own responsibility, just do her best to do her best, and she should not be praised by her uncle so much." ”

The emperor looked at Lin Qingzhi noncommittally, his eyes seemed to be gratified, as if he was puzzled, as if he was tempting, and said after a while: "Well said! How can this be a humble opinion, many children of the family, princes and grandchildren do not necessarily have such awareness, it is difficult for you to be so sensible. ”

After speaking, the emperor blinked his eyes and saw Xiao Mufeng standing beside Lin Chengde, and his face became even softer: "Feng'er, this time I went to the north, I heard that you have managed the army well, and you can lead the army alone to go deep into the enemy country, which is very good, a bit like my father's courage and courage back then, and I really did not live up to my father's expectations!" ”

"Erchen only hopes to share his father's worries, his father was brave and famous back then, and Erchen didn't dare to compare with his father!" Xiao Mufeng said modestly.

"It's good to be able to be so humble after making war achievements! Then give you the position of Prince Ning, and add five beads. The emperor's move made the ministers who came to greet him very shocked, and faintly felt that the wind direction of the court was going to usher in a great change, after all, the eldest son of the emperor was named the crown prince before the highest was the prince of Sanzhu, after all, the second son of the emperor is a concubine Although he has made military achievements, but a leap from the king of the county to the prince of the prince is also counted, and he will be given the position of the prince of Wuzhu all of a sudden, the emperor originally ordered the prince of the East Palace to be grounded for half a year, and there have been rumors about Yi Chu, and now the second son of the emperor who is out of the concubine and has no mother is promoted to the prince of Wuzhu, All the courtiers felt that they had underestimated this silent second prince too much before, and they were thinking about whether it was too late to do the relationship now, and some of them were even secretly thinking about how to vote for the iron-masked prince's preferences.

Just when the courtiers had different thoughts, Xiao Mufeng, who had been rewarded, did not have much ups and downs on his face, but just gave thanks to him like a routine.

Seeing that Xiao Mufeng was still unfinished after thanking him, the emperor asked, "Feng'er, do you have anything else to say?" ”

Xiao Mufeng suddenly knelt down and said: "Father, the third brother of the son of the army has been accompanying him, and it is also the third brother's idea to make a chariot to resist the Khitan cavalry, if there is no third brother, the son is trapped in the enemy camp and it is difficult to come back to see the face of the father, the third brother's merit is no less than that of the son, so the son has the courage to ask for a reward for the third brother." ”

Seeing Xiao Mufeng's moves, the old emperor's face was cloudy, and he didn't want to mention the lowly son, but if he didn't give Xiao Mulin a reward in front of so many people, he was afraid that he would cause an unfair reputation under his rule, so he couldn't hold back the displeasure in his heart and said lightly: "Then give him the title of King of Shuangjun." ”

Xiao Mufeng originally wanted to ask for a reward from a prince for Xiao Mulin, but the emperor had already spoken, so he leaned over and kowtowed: "Erchen thanks his father for the third brother, the third brother will be very happy if he knows." ”

The emperor was already displeased with him, and he no longer paid attention to him, pulled Lin Chengde to the direction of the city gate, and said as he walked: "I have prepared a reception banquet for you and those generals, and tonight in the Yunguang Palace, you have to get drunk and rest." ”