In the capital of Zhongshu Province, the ruling institution adhering to the holy will of the monarch exudes the majesty second only to the imperial power everywhere.

Next to the hollow carved cases, a middle-aged man wears a horned head, wears a purple robe with a round neck and large sleeves, embroidered with a three-clawed dragon pattern on his chest, and a gold and jade leather belt around his waist.

According to the regulations of the current dynasty's clothing, the first and second grades of official robes are embroidered with dragon patterns, the third, fourth and fifth grades are embroidered with landscape maps, and the sixth to ninth grades are flowers and birds.

The distinction between the first and second grades of court clothes lies in whether there is a white single coat worn inside, and a brocade ribbon pattern worn outside.

It can also be identified according to the number of beams on the official hat, the two beams are the lowest, the nine beams are capped, and the Tang dynasties before the Wei and Jin dynasties have the contrast of "the pole of the nine beams of flower arrangement, and the two beams are poor at the beginning".

The man replaced the beam hat with a hat, so it was impossible to identify from the official hat.

However, the dragon pattern purple robe is embroidered with auspicious clouds and beasts, and the process uses dark pattern dobquard, gold and silver threads, which is a kind of treatment.

And such a gorgeous purple robe is not worn under the bottom of the Luo system, so there is no doubt that the official residence is from the first product.

That's it, he is also extremely powerful, his place is Zhongshu Province, all government affairs need to pass through here, and the emperor's decree is no exception, and the Privy Council together represent the civil and military will of a dynasty, which shows the breadth of his power.

He walked slowly to the candle flame, burned the letters, raised his beard slightly at the corners of his mouth, and pulled his chin with an ornamental goatee to bring a smile, he did not expect that his brother, who never bowed his head, would ask for him for an "outsider".

In this mud-like temple, it is natural to have unique means to be able to be as alone as he is, and to successfully rank among the top ministers.

It's just that he was supposed to watch the fire from across the strait in this partisan dispute in the imperial court, but he was disrupted by a letter from his own brother, he had heard of Zhao Zhengli in the letter, and he had quietly assassinated two million gold.

With his eyesight, he can see that this person is extraordinary, but the two have no communication, and they have no way to communicate, and the only good impression of him is the provocation of the Khitan mission in the capital, which can be regarded as earning face for the Qingguo people that day.

If he said that he would help him because of this, it would be a fantasy, and he was entangled in how his younger brother, who was a bastard, could get entangled with him, and he was willing to stand up for him.

He couldn't figure out the twists and turns, but at the moment, his analysis of the court situation, Yu Bin, the secretary of the military department, was indeed very important, and the prince's action against him was nothing more than the first to break the tripartite balance.

If Chen Yin didn't do anything good to protect Yubin at this time, it didn't seem that he didn't buy his brother's affection.

After thinking about it, he decided to send a personal favor to the Privy Council, and it was up to Yu Bin to make his choice.

If the matter is revealed in the end, Chen Yin, his right prime minister, is not suspected of participating in the party.

Thinking of this, he wrote a letter and sent it to the residence of Wang Shi, the privy envoy who was also a servant.

——

Hedong Road

Taiyuan Province

The state pastor Lei Xunuo, the assassin Shi Taoyuan, and the governor of the state Murray.

The three rulers of Taiyuan Mansion gathered together, just to witness the legendary people who stirred up the rivers and lakes and temples, and listened to the rumors in the direction of Qingzhou, Zhao Zhengli also went out to the East China Sea on the eve of his appointment, and entered the legendary sacred mountain.

Although the three of them have their own masters in the party, they naturally have no time to take care of too much at the juncture of the strong enemy's oppression, if they lose an inch of land, it is estimated that it will be difficult for their heads to be saved, and even affect the whole family, so the three of them are now unanimously obedient to the words of the border army, and forget the strategy of suppressing the military generals of the imperial court.

Of course, this is just a temporary compliment from the literati under the general trend, if the war on the northern front is stable, these civil servants and scholars will still look down on these martial arts barbarians.

However, not all of them have such a general understanding, just take the various transport envoys as an example, they rely on the trust of the imperial court, deploy military rations, salt, iron and other things recklessly, no matter how urgent the military situation on the northern front is, it is not beneficial to resolutely delay and push.

This is the result of the current problems such as the sluggishness of supply on the northern front, and the commander of the Hedong Road, Ge Hongliang, and the deputy commander, Yao Xuda, are suffering from internal friction, which makes the morale of the army low.

The morale of the Khitan, Tibet, and Western Xia Kingdoms became more and more intense.

At this point, Ge Hongliang went north to the front line, and he urgently needed Zhao Zhengli, the captain of the light car, who had not yet been awarded the title to take up his post, to defend against the enemy together.

However, he ignored the complicated relationship between his son Ge Xiaojin and Zhao Zhengli, as well as the potholes and depressions along the way to the north, which was no less difficult and dangerous than Tang Xuanzang's westward journey.

Zhao Zhengli also thought about it, if Chen Xiaoyao hadn't stopped him in time, what would have happened to him and Chen Yin, the right prime minister?

If there is no escort from Yao Rongbei, how many "bandits" will come out along the way.

He couldn't understand the intentions of the imperial court, let himself go north, and acquiesced in the secret framing, was he simply looking for a reasonable excuse to erase him? Or is it the king's cat-and-mouse trick?

In any case, since he chose to go north, he naturally made up his mind to start.

His resolute face stared at the armor, boots, and swords that had been presented to him after the decree.

In the distance, Yu Xiaowei and Biyu, the two of them had complicated expressions, each worried.

Putting on the armor and swords, it means living a career as a horseman, and both of them know that he is not here, and it is worth it to imagine the bumpy road he is about to encounter?

Chen Xiaoyao smiled very brightly on the side, and even he didn't know why.

Yao Rongbei admired it like a humble gentleman, and in his opinion, the relationship between the two was at least a little better.

The three of them, Governor Lei Xunuo, Assassin Shi Taoyuan, and Governor Murray, didn't have much thought, but just congratulated politely and said something pleasant.

The group of middle-aged Confucian shirts with swords sent by the imperial court did not show up, either because of the cold arrogance of the swordsmen, or perhaps because they knew that Zhao Zhengli's chess piece would have a bad fate in the future, so they were not very interested in it.

In the next two days, Taiyuan Prefecture handed over matters with the newly appointed Sipin Commander, sorted out the military situation and reported it to the imperial court, as well as distributed emergency deployments to various places along the northern line of Hedong Road.

Everything is in full swing, Yu Xiaowei has not left Zhao Zhengli's side for the past two days, and she just wants to take as many eyes as possible at this nominal "husband".

Biyu chose to avoid it with great interest, after all, after these two days, she was going to follow Zhao Dao Chang to the border pass, and she had a lot of time to get along at that time, so how could she care about these two days.

Yu Xiaowei's sorrowful heart was relieved in the afternoon of the last day, because of the news from the direction of the capital, his father Yu Bin's life was temporarily preserved, and now she is waiting for her to return to Beijing to assist in the investigation, and the pressure falls on her for a while.

It is not difficult for a discerning person to see that the imperial court intends to use the father and daughter of the Yu family to contain Zhao Zhengli, even if this four-rank captain has some power in the north, he does not dare to act rashly.

This move was set in advance by the imperial court, and Zhao Zhengli had to obediently enter the urn.

This also disrupted his plan to secretly rob and kill the group of Confucian swordsmen, and it seems that Yu Xiaowei must return to Beijing.

In the evening, the sunset gradually set, Zhao Zhengli in a plain shirt came to Chen Xiaoyao's attic, he was sitting at the wooden table and making tea, Zhao Zhengli just entered the room and he began to pour tea towards the purple sand tea set, and said without raising his head: "Just right!" ”

Zhao Zhengli sat down across from him, revealing a cramped smile: "You know I'm coming?" ”

He pushed a cup in front of Zhao Zhengli, and then picked up another cup and put it to his mouth to take a sip and said, "Who is this hero, how can you not know?" ”

Zhao Zhengli looked at his godly expression and smiled slightly, and the feeling of crampedness disappeared.

Chen Xiaoyao picked his fingers at the eye-catching sideburns and patted his chest: "Brother, I promise to secretly escort my brother and daughter-in-law back to the capital unharmed." ”

Zhao Zhengli straightened his shirt and nodded silently.

The suave man immediately blushed and became a little shy: "But you also have to take care of the little lady of the Bi family for me, and you are not allowed to cut off Huha while I am away." ”

Although Zhao Zhengli has seen a few points in recent days, he was still slightly surprised when he said it himself, looking at his red old face that seemed to have drunk three catties of spirits, and nodded slightly distractedly.

The unknown loss in my heart, I always felt like I had lost something, and finally sighed softly: "You have to treat her sincerely." ”

Questioned, Chen Xiaoyao suddenly became anxious, and swore with three fingers: "If you have half a false intention, you will kill Lao Tzu with a sword and a pestle." ”

“……”

——

Jin Ge Iron Horse galloped to the post road, only listening to the rooster report the morning dawn.

At dawn, the sky and the earth were hazy.

A team of armored soldiers from the north of Taiyuan City went north.

Another group of sword-bearers, Confucian-shirted, headed south.

One of the beautiful women had a frosty face, and after going south for dozens of miles, she looked to the north and wiped her tears silently, her eyes were full of helpless abandonment, and her heart was full of sorrow, and she was far away.

A plain shirt and a carefree boy rode a high-class war horse and hung leisurely ten miles away, he hung the thundering knife of the thirteenth armor of the weapon spectrum around his waist, and twisted a wine jug in his hand from time to time to take a sip, and murmured: "Let this hero personally escort him, and the entire rivers and lakes will not find the second one, alas, they are all for love." ”

——

It is the norm for the cavalry to travel 1200 miles a day without carrying weight, and it can reach seventy or eighty with accompanying grain and grass, all of which is attributed to the military post road.

Zhao Zhengli and his entourage were led by Ge Xiaojin, accompanied by about thirty or forty people, each with a war horse in their crotch, galloping.

The team was covered with armor like him, with swords on their waists, and spears on their horses, and the rest were half-armoured, with two more crossbows on their backs.

In order to ensure the safety of Zhao Zhengli, Yao Rongbei followed the team fifty miles away from the rear.

In fact, even if something happens, Zhao Zhengli is not afraid of the realm of a middle-grade grandmaster.

Yao Yangbei is also aware of this, and as for why he made such a move, it came down to his position being stated.

Along the way, Zhao Zhengli rarely talked to him, and Ge Xiaojin did not deliberately make things difficult, there were sentries in front of dozens of people, and there were cover soldiers in the back, and he, the commander appointed by the imperial court, was unexpectedly treated as an officer.

Jasper was wearing a long skirt, which was very conspicuous in the armor team, and Zhao Duwei, who accompanied her, was even more eye-catching against the backdrop of the beauty.

On the way, except for the thirty miles of post house rest and change horses, there is no stop, their purpose is to Changning army in the north, pass through Xianzhou in the afternoon, and then pass through the cave valley village, and it is expected to arrive at Changning army in the evening.

In the field of vision, the loess slopes are undulating, and clusters of artemisia grass and shrubs are scattered everywhere, and green life is particularly precious.

The wind and sand are very strong, very dry, and uninhabited at a glance.

As early as a month ago, the 36 prefectures of the Five Roads and the Khitan on the northern front began to move south, and at the same time, they were constantly expanding their troops and gathering on the second front for training.

Now the first front in the north is defended by the 13th Army directly under the imperial court "Zhenbei Six Lions", counting the second-line combat reserve Eighth Army, and the temporarily expanded 26th Army, more than 300,000 soldiers.

Among the more than 300,000 soldiers, there are only more than 100,000 war horses, and in addition to the 80,000 or 90,000 elite soldiers of the "Six Lions", there are tens of thousands of cloth armor and wooden armor that are patched together, and even offensive equipment such as swords and spears are still lacking tens of thousands.

The only guarantee is that the equipment for defending the city is barely fully equipped, but it is also the product of some disputes between the ten countries five or six years ago.

After all, the five or six years of great unification have been shortened, so that Qingguo has not fully recovered.

However, the Khitan, Tubo, and Western Xia Kingdoms are no exception, and they are even weaker than the Qing State in terms of war readiness, otherwise they would not have formed a trend of merging the three kingdoms.

The three of them are now training their troops and training generals, and they just want to take advantage of the fire to rob, and now they are waiting for the old emperor of Qingguo to swallow that breath, and when the party dispute in Qingguo begins, it is also the time for them to rob.

It was late at night when Zhao Zhengli arrived at the camp of the Changning Army, and he originally planned to rest in Xiaolianggou for one night, but in the evening Ge Xiaojin received an urgent letter from his father, saying that a Khitan spy had entered the country along the Lan Mountain, and had already fought with the Lan Army to hide the mountains and forests, and was now collecting the mountains in a carpet manner.

The other Seventh Army on Hedong Road also took this warning and raised its vigilance.

Among the first army, five people are set up as a commander, 20 people are the commanders, 100 people are the centurions, 500 people are the commanders of the small capital, 1,000 people are the commanders of the big capital, 3,000 people are the general and partial generals, 5,000 people are the general and partial generals, and 10,000 people are the general and deputy generals.

These are all achievements piled up on the battlefield by relying on military merits, like Zhao Zhengli, a lieutenant is an official by order, belonging to the imperial court officials, if there is no clear will, there is not much real power on the battlefield, if there is no strong ability, even the pawns will sneer at it.

In the temple and court, it is to watch people cook, but in the army, they only rely on strength to convince people.

Changning Army, General Pang Luyi, left and right deputy generals Xiao Ke, Zuo Heng, all three of them were from the former Jin Kingdom, and the Later Jin Kingdom was annexed by the Great Zhou.

These are all told to Zhao Zhengli by Yao Rongbei in advance, and with his current status, he is naturally not qualified to be greeted in person.

Outside the camp tent was the small capital commander He Wen, who was in charge of five hundred soldiers, and such treatment was also envious of others in the eyes of ordinary soldiers.

He Fang has dark skin and rough skin, a full northern man, not tall but unusually burly, with heavy armor wrapped in tendon flesh, and his eyes give people a creepy illusion even with a smile.

Zhao Zhengli glanced at his three-point false and seven-point disdainful smile, and understood that the other party looked down on him, an "official sent by the imperial court".

He Xiaodutong said hello and sent the soldiers beside him to lead Zhao Zhengli to the camp tent.

Zhao Zhengli entered the camp tent, with simple furnishings, a few desks, a topographic map of the mountains on Hedong Road, and a bed.

I don't know if it is because of the official position or the celebrity effect, but it is unprecedented to arrange a separate tent.

According to the normal distribution, the lieutenant should be on par with the centurion, and the junior lieutenant who is in charge of five hundred soldiers in charge of a single tent has the qualifications, and a new lieutenant like him who has no military merits is best to live in a three-person tent, and if he is unlucky, he will directly squeeze into a tent with ordinary soldiers.

After all, in addition to the shining title above their heads, they are undoubtedly the same as ordinary soldiers.

However, what Zhao Zhengli didn't know was that he was a monk, and his combat power on the border was far more than that of ordinary soldiers.

No matter what country it is, people like him will be treated with courtesy, so all this treatment is reasonable.

The few tents next to him were all inhabited by monastics, and most of them did not even have any titles.

Zhao Zhengli naturally didn't know, and he didn't plan to delve into this issue, so he simply cleaned up and lay on the hard couch, pillowed his hands, and looked up at the tarpaulin tent.

There are hundreds of similar tents outside, all of which are set up by the baggage army, including food and grass supplies, offensive and defensive weapons, and are in charge of all logistical matters.

In this way, the generals can charge and kill the enemy without any fear.

Ten ordinary soldiers live in a tent, the tent is separated by artemisia grass to prevent moisture, and a soft blanket is spread on top of the artemisia grass, and the soldiers rest on the soft blanket, and do not remove their armor at night, and their hands do not leave their weapons, so as to prevent the enemy from attacking at night.

Sentinels outside the tent patrol in three shifts day and night, and guard towers were set up in east, west, north and south to provide temporary safe habitat for soldiers as much as possible.

Zhao Zhengli spent the first night of the barracks in a half-asleep state.

In the early morning, he looked to the south, and there was no joy or sorrow on the surface, but he knew that a trace of tears appeared in the depths of those beautiful eyes, and then they became cold at a visible speed.

Biyu watched silently behind her, it stands to reason that Miss Yu is happy to return to Beijing, why is she sad?