Chapter 7: National Disaster (8)

"Zhao Hongyin, the commander of the right army of the Protector, was sent by His Majesty to inspect the Huangzhuang the day before yesterday......" Failed to get Shi Hongzhao's attention for two consecutive reminders, Lu Wen, a scholar in the middle school, was so depressed in his heart, he groaned for a moment, and pointed out the third abnormality again.

The Holy Protector Army is the official name of the forbidden army, and the Right Army of the Holy Protector is under the command of Zhao Hongyin, who has many contacts with Shi Hongzhao, Guo Wei and others. His son Zhao Kuangyin, and Guo Wei's adopted son Chai Rong, also married Jin Lan. When Nie Wenjin, the general of the Right Guard, wantonly installed cronies in the Left and Right Guardian Saint Army, Zhao Hongyin, the commander of the Right Army, was transferred out of Bianliang, these two things do not seem to be a coincidence.

He was answered by the sound of a paper flipping. Lu Wen, a scholar from the middle school, raised his eyes and saw that Shi Hongzhao had begun to concentrate on reviewing the official documents, and he didn't listen carefully to what he just said.

A feeling of powerlessness suddenly surged through the whole body of Lu Wen, a member of the middle school. With a wry smile, he saluted Shi Hongzhao again, and he silently withdrew. Silently returned to his seat in the wing, to take care of his duties.

'Maybe I'm worrying about it!' he continued to shake his head and smile bitterly as he quickly sorted out what he needed for tomorrow's court. From the Privy Council to the front of the palace for the Xuanzheng Hall of the Imperial Palace, it is only a little more than a thousand steps away. On the side of the Privy Envoy's Palace, there was a commander of the Dragon Wu Army. Even if something really happens, with Shi Shumi's skills and the skills of the guards around him, he should be able to hold out until the arrival of the Long Wu Army in the mansion. As long as the two sides can converge smoothly, even if there are thousands of troops and horses around them, they will not want to block Shi Shumi's way again.

Thinking like this, slowly, his mind finally settled down. Soon, all his attention was focused on the official business at hand.

When the afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled all over the window, all the official documents that needed to be processed at the court meeting tomorrow were finally sorted out and sent to Shi Hongzhao's desk in time. Shi Hongzhao himself finally finished the day's work, stretched his waist, and prepared to go back to the back house to have dinner with his family.

Seeing that Lu Wen, the scholar in the middle school, still had a little anxiety on his face, the old general smiled, shook his head and said, "Okay, the old man knows that you are afraid that someone will have bad intentions." After tomorrow's court meeting, the old man will transfer another box of Longwu Army and station it in the city! Don't worry, when the old man led an army to fight, Nie Wenjin still wore open crotch pants. If he really dares to act rashly, the old man's soldiers and horses are enough to destroy all the holy protectors. ”

"This, my subordinates hope that they are unfounded!" Lu Wen's face flushed slightly, and he arched his hand in response.

"Your Majesty, though young and ignorant, is not a madman, and should know the severity. Shi Hongzhao looked at him, as if emphasizing a fact, and as if he was cheering himself up again, "The old man doesn't have the heart to be Sima Zhao, but if His Majesty is really crazy, the old man will not hesitate to let him be a Cao Chao!" (Note 2)

The combat effectiveness of the Longwu Army under his command is unparalleled in the world, as long as he gives an order, within half an hour, he can defeat any opponent and control the entire Bianliang. At the turn of life and death, Guo Wei sat in Yedu with heavy troops, and if something happened in Gyeonggi, he could also come back in the starry night to crush Li Ye, Nie Wenjin, Hou Zan and other rats. With such a huge disparity in strength, Shi Hongzhao believes that as long as the little emperor is not completely crazy, he will never dare to act rashly.

Of course, he will not ignore the precautions that should be done. For example, every time he went out of the house to go to the court recently, he was escorted by at least one armor soldier by his side. At the end of each court meeting, he no longer accepted anyone's banquet, and jumped directly on the war horse and went home. Since Guo Wei left more than a month ago, he didn't even go to the inner palace anymore, and let the little emperor Liu Chengyou do whatever he wanted inside. lest he really be negligent for a while and follow in the footsteps of He Jin, the general of the Han Dynasty. (Note 1)

In order to show that he was obedient, when he went to the court the next day, Shi Hongzhao specially increased his personal guards to two. In the court clothes, there is also a monkey armor from Qingqiang, ten steps away, which can block the sneak attack of any crossbow arrows.

Such a large procession went straight to the palace, of course, it was impossible not to attract the attention of outsiders. After passing through the first crossroads after leaving the house, Yin Liu Bao of Kaifeng Mansion greeted him with a sweat. He put his hands together in front of his chest from a distance, and greeted him loudly with the salute of a general, regardless of whether Shi Hongzhao could hear it or not, "Liu Ba, a pawn under the tent in the past, meet the commander and envoy! Dare to ask your lordship, what is the matter with such a great teacher?"

"Of course it's going to the court!Liu Fuzun, how many guards does my family bring with him, do I still need to report to you in advance?" Shi Hongzhao's personal guards commanded Zhou Jianliang unceremoniously raised his knife in his hand, and asked sharply,

"Don't dare!" Although Kaifeng Mansion Yin was wearing a civil official robe, he still straightened his waist on horseback like a military general and arched his hand, "In the past, Liu Ba, a pawn under the account, is willing to take the reins for the commander!"

With that, he turned over and jumped off his mount and rushed directly towards the center of the group. Seeing this, Zhou Jianliang was commanded by the guards, and his arm immediately stiffened. was pondering whether to command the brothers to set this person apart, but behind him, Shi Hongzhao's voice was already heard, "That's it, let's let him come over! He is now the Yin of Kaifeng Mansion, and he does have the right to ask the old man how many followers he has!"

"Obey!" Zhou Jianliang gritted his teeth, pulled the reins helplessly, and made a passage for Liu Ba to come out.

The other accompanying civil and military staff members looked at each other. No one could find a reason to keep Liu Baht out of the team. The latter had already served under Shi Hongzhao when he was still the commander of Liu Zhiyuan's guards and pro-army. After coming up today, he didn't mention the responsibilities of Kaifeng Mansion Yin, but he was a "pawn in the past", which can be said to be holding Shi Hongzhao's vein, so that Shi Shumi, who has always come to see the love of incense, how could he ignore it?

In this stunned kung fu, Liu Bao had already come to Shi Hongzhao's mount. Sure enough, he reached out and grabbed the reins of his mount, and without hesitation, he acted as a pawn in front of the horse.

"Ziheng, no, don't do this!" Shi Hongzhao suddenly couldn't hold the shelf anymore, flew off the horse, and snatched back the reins. "You are also a high-ranking official now, the old man can't be so contemptuous of you! Put it down, let it go, if you have anything to say, you can say it directly, and the old man will definitely not embarrass you. ”

"If there was no general to guide and promote in the past, how could there be subordinates today?" Liu Bao did not have Shi Hongzhao's strength, so he could only let go of the reins. Immediately, he took two steps back and solemnly arched his hand, "No matter what the general does today, his subordinates will never dare to interfere." I only wish to saddle up the horse and back the horse, and cover the gun and block the arrow for the general!"

"This, this ......" Shi Hongzhao originally thought that Liu Bao would talk too much about the personal soldiers he brought, but he never expected that Liu Bai, who was the Yin of Kaifeng Mansion, would make his attitude so direct and willing to advance and retreat with him. Suddenly, he felt warm in his heart, smiled, and took the initiative to wave his hand to Zhou Jianliang, the commander of the pro-army, "Dezheng, let half of the brothers go home." Ziheng has just taken office, let's not make it difficult for him!"

"My lord!" Zhou Jianliang instinctively wanted to dissuade him as soon as he gave up his hand. Unexpectedly, Shi Hongzhao didn't give him a chance to speak at all, frowned, and whispered, "Don't be verbose, let the newly added brothers go back to rest." It's only a little more than a thousand steps in total, and there is a difference between a hundred and two hundred, so what's the difference?"

"Yes!" Zhou Jianliang did not dare to disobey the command of the pro-army, so he had to follow Shi Hongzhao's request and let his deputy He Qiong return home with the additional 100 guards this morning.

Seeing Shi Hongzhao thinking about himself like this, Yin Liu Baht of Kaifeng Mansion was also full of emotion. As a subordinate, he saluted Shi Hongzhao, then puffed up his chest and assured loudly, "Don't worry, your subordinates are not powerless civil officials. As long as your subordinates have a breath of air, no one in this Bianliang City will be able to touch half of your cold hair!"

After that, he raised his arm and went to hold the reins of the war horse for Shi Hongzhao.

Although Shi Hongzhao was arrogant, how could he let the first-class member of the dynasty be his own horse boy? Hurriedly raised his hand and slapped the other party's arm, and counted down with a smile: "Okay, Ziheng, don't pretend, your goal has been achieved! If the old man really lets you lead the horse today, tomorrow our Dahan Kingdom will have to become a joke all over the world!"

"Hehe, hehe, the general is good-hearted, he just knows to be considerate of us little soldiers!" Liu Ba's face turned red again, and he bowed down, like a junior who was caught stealing sugar cakes, and slapped Shi Hongzhao's ass.

In Shi Hongzhao's heart, he suddenly remembered the scene when he led this person to charge into battle, smiled, and waved his hand gently, "Okay, since your goal has been achieved, go back to do things." Kaifeng Mansion Yin, it's not an idle errand!"

"Subordinate, subordinate also plans to participate in the court meeting today, although the subordinate is dull and can't do anything. But, but at least it can make a strong name for you. Liu Bao smiled all over his face and once again showed his posture.

Shi Hongzhao recently felt that his control over Bianliang was not as good as before, and when he saw that Liu Bao was so enthusiastic, he didn't want to chill this person's heart. After a slight groan, he smiled and nodded, "Okay, let's go for a walk together." It's still too late anyway. There are also days when I haven't sat down with you and had a drink!"

Liu Bao immediately hit the snake with the stick, and responded with a smile, "But isn't it, since the rebellion of Li Shouzhen, you have been so busy that your feet do not touch the ground." We, our subordinates, sometimes, really don't dare to bother you!"

"Come when you should come, the old man won't throw you out of the door!" Shi Hongzhao glanced at him and shook his head with a smile.

The other party has served under him for many years, although he is not a hardcore confidant, but the friendship of the robe is also quite deep. Therefore, when we talk, we can no longer feel the slightest estrangement between each other. Especially when it comes to the feat of the first emperor Liu Zhiyuan, who led the big guys to expel the Khitans together, the feeling of enmity with the son actually surged again.

It's a pity that the distance from Shi Hongzhao's mansion to the palace is too short. Before the two of them could finish talking, a vermilion palace gate had already appeared in front of the team.

"Go in with the old man, disperse, let's drink together again!" didn't look at the general of the forbidden army at the door, Shi Hongzhao gave an order to Liu Ba, and then took his personal guards and entered directly through the door. He didn't walk until he was thirty steps in front of the Xuanzheng Palace, and then he waved his hand again, letting Zhou Jianliang take his soldiers and wait in the open space in front of the hall. Then he moved his legs and strode up the steps paved with white marble.

Eight officials of the Zhongshu Province and the Privy Council with a rank of three or more followed. Kaifeng Mansion Yin Liu Ba, very humbly, followed the tail of the entire team. In the Xuanzheng Palace, the little emperor Liu Chengyou had already stood up to greet him, and the prime minister Yang Wei, the secretary Su Fengji, and some other civil and military officials who had arrived a long time ago also turned their faces with a smile.

Everything was as usual, Shi Hongzhao suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and crossed the threshold of the Xuanzheng Hall with a smile. The threshold made of Nanmu was a little old, and the cracked wooden drill happened to hang on the back of his official robe.

"It's time to fix it! There is so much money every year, and I don't know where the emperor spends it!" Shi Hongzhao frowned, turned his head sideways, and planned to instruct Lu Wen, the middle scholar behind him, to write down the matter, and then find Yousi to allocate special funds to maintain the palace. In the corner of his eye, he just saw Yin Liu Bao of Kaifeng Mansion floating towards him like a ghost.

"Ziheng-" The area between his eyebrows suddenly numb, and he decisively dodged sideways, while clenching his hands into fists. Before his arm could be full of strength, several cold winds suddenly blew from the side of his ears, and a few crossbow arrows flew from behind the throne of the little emperor.

"Bang, bang!" Qingqiang is a shriveled armor that can block the sharp blade of the crossbow arrow, but it can't remove the huge force on the crossbow rod. Shi Hongzhao didn't have time to snort, and was sent into the air by two arm-thick crossbow arrows. In his round eyes, he saw that Lu Wen, the scholar of the Middle School, and two Privy Council officials, carried by several other giant crossbows, flew under him, and the blood was like a waterfall, sprinkling the white marble steps. On the steps, Yin Liu Bao of Kaifeng Mansion held a short knife and opened a killing ring, and all the officials who ran past him, regardless of martial arts, were chopped to the ground by him.

"Kill, kill them all!" Shi Hongzhao roared angrily in mid-air, not caring for his own safety. His own soldiers had indeed drawn their weapons and rushed to the gate of the Xuanzheng Palace. However, the forbidden army of the brigade poured out like ants from both sides of the Xuanzheng Palace, from behind the fireproof water tank, from the side room for the officials to rest, and from all possible hiding places, quickly engulfing his own soldiers in the cold sword light.

Note 1: He Jin, a powerful minister in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and the elder brother of the Empress Dowager He. was summoned into the harem by the eunuch Zhang Rang and others, pretending to be in the name of the Empress Dowager He, and then hacked to death by stabbing the dog behind closed doors.

Note 2: Cao Chao, the grandson of Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Pi, was dissatisfied with Sima Zhao's dictatorship, so he led more than 100 henchmen to kill Sima Zhao's mansion without any response from the generals. As a result, he was defeated by Sima Zhao's minions, and he himself died tragically on the street.

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