Imperial Palace, Wende Hall East Warm Pavilion.

This is the imperial study of the Son of Heaven, and it is also the place where he summons his confidants and important ministers on weekdays.

Li Duan sat behind the imperial case, looking at the three martial artists standing solemnly in front of him, his expression was very gentle.

The Nanya of the Beijing Army was restructured into three Beijing battalions, and from the time Li Jingda was transferred to the governor of Dingzhou, Li Duan gradually advanced in a few months, and finally broke the original backwater situation of the Nanya.

Although it cannot be said that the current three camps will carry out his orders as the Son of Heaven without discount, they are much stronger than the previous situation, at least he has more room to make adjustments.

Li Duan's gaze looked over from the three of them one by one.

Standing on the far left is Lu Shen, the commander of the march of the Jinwu battalion, and standing on the right is Zhang Xu, the Marquis of Yongding, the Wuwei battalion.

He was forty-nine years old at the time, and his temperament was calm and quite Confucian.

Zhang Xu is different from most other martial arts, he was originally a Jinshi Wenchen, and later entered the Beijing army as a general because of various opportunities, and was awarded the governor of Taiping Prefecture.

The year before last, he had to go back to the capital to recuperate because of poor health, and when he recovered, there was no suitable position for him in the court, so he had been at home.

Now that he has re-entered the court through Guo Congyi's recommendation, this martial artist, who is close to knowing the destiny of heaven, has become more and more calm.

Li Duan smiled and said: "Marquis Yongding, I handed over the Wuwei camp to Aiqing, hoping that these three Beijing armies can become the elite tiger army, instead of becoming spectators in the prosperous land of the capital." ”

Zhang Xu bowed and said respectfully: "The minister must remember His Majesty's entrustment, and he will not dare to slack off for a day." ”

Li Duan nodded, he could hear Zhang Xu's cautiousness, so he naturally wouldn't rush to force the other party to make a statement.

The martial artist standing in the middle was tall and madamian, although his sideburns were slightly white, but he could not see the slightest look of old age on his face, but exuded a heroic feeling like a prime of life.

This person is Chongshan Hou Hu Hai, in today's Great Qi Army, in terms of seniority, second only to Han Lingfu, the Duke of Jingguo, unlike Han Lingfu's dying old man, the fifty-eight-year-old Hu Hai can still open a three-stone hard bow, and it is not a problem to kill people in armor.

Before Lu Shen came to this world, Hu Hai was defeated in the court battle many years ago, and his position as the general of the Southern Ya was also replaced by Li Jingda. At that time, it was the time when the power of the Jiangnan clan was at its peak and Li Duan was still accumulating strength, so he had no way to keep this upright old man.

Although Hu Hai is irritable, he is not stupid, of course, he will not have resentment towards the Son of Heaven because of those things, on the contrary, he is very grateful that the Son of Heaven still remembers him and puts this vacancy in his hands.

Seeing the Son of Heaven looking at him, Hu Hai took the initiative to say: "Your Majesty, the old minister promises to train those rabbit cubs in the brave camp to be worse than death, if Your Majesty lets the old minister lead the troops to the battle in the future, he will definitely not lose His Majesty's face!" Even if it can't compare to the elites of the Jingzhou Army and the Huaizhou Army, the old minister will take these four Beijing troops to sacrifice his life for His Majesty! ”

Li Duan said movingly: "The coming day is long, there is no need to rush for a while, and the Marquis of Chongshan must also take care of his body." ”

Hu Hai grinned and said: "Your Majesty, rest assured, Lao Chen's bones are quite tough, and now he can still eat two large bowls of rice at every meal." The old minister has been a little stuffy in the house all these years, just looking forward to being able to serve His Majesty again, and now that he has finally waited for this opportunity, how can the old minister let His Majesty down? ”

His attitude made Li Duan quite pleased, and after a few words of encouragement, he said: "I summoned you into the palace today in the hope that you can get acquainted with it, and you can learn from each other's strengths and make progress together in the future." ”

Hu Hai and Zhang Xu are old acquaintances, so naturally they don't need to get acquainted again, and the two instantly understood the intention of the Son of Heaven's move, and they all looked at the young marquis next to them.

For these two veteran martial artists, Lu Shen's name has been heard many times, and it has been even more thunderous for most of the past half a year.

Although they are idle at home, they will not miss the big movements in the army, especially the deeds of Lu Shen who completed the feat of recovering the old capital at the age of a weak crown, and after hearing about it, he had both emotion and envy.

This kind of young and noble frontier army nobles will inevitably have an arrogant temperament, and Lu Shen's performance in Beijing twice seems to show this, so whether it is as calm as Zhang Xu or as warm as Hu Hai, it is inevitable that there will be some muttering in his heart.

If this young man relied on his military exploits and the favor of the Son of Heaven to put on an arrogant posture in front of them, how should they respond?

Facing the eyes of these two veteran martial artists, Lu Shen saluted first, and said respectfully: "The two marquis are both battlefield generals, and leading troops to fight is even more expert. ”

Zhang Xu's eyes narrowed slightly, and then he smiled: "The Marquis of Shanyang is too modest, I have studied the wars such as Wanping, Lei Ze and Heluo that you planned, and I can only say that I am a rising star, and my future is uncertain." ”

Lu Shen bowed his head slightly and said, "Master Hou praises falsely." ”

Hu Hai looked Lu Shen up and down, and saw that he was not arrogant, as calm and humble as a pool of quiet lakes, and couldn't help but praise: "Marquis of Shanyang, when it comes to the ability to lead troops to fight, you are no worse than Lao Hu, what you lack is just the precipitation of time." In time, you will definitely be able to become a talent like Xiao and Li! ”

Lu Shen said with a smile: "Inheriting the auspicious words of the old marquis, the younger generations will definitely redouble their efforts." ”

Li Duan looked at the three of them politely with interest, and at this moment, Fang Yanyan interrupted: "The three Beijing camps have just been established, you must do your best. In addition, starting from this month, you will have to report the state of your respective camps every month, and you don't need to be ornate in words, just report the truth. ”

The three princes replied at the same time: "The ministers obey the order." ”

Everyone saluted and retreated one after another, but Li Duan left Lu Shen behind.

It was quite quiet in the warm pavilion, and Li Duan got up and said, "Accompany me for a walk." ”

Lu Shen bowed his head and said, "Yes, Your Majesty." ”

The two of them walked through the palace, followed by a group of palace people from a distance.

"What do you think of Hu Hai and Zhang Xu?"

The voice of the Son of Heaven sounded leisurely.

Lu Shen walked behind the side, so he couldn't see the expression on his face, and could only taste some special emotions from his gentle tone.

Recalling Fang Cai's conversation, Lu Shen replied: "Back to Your Majesty, it is difficult to distinguish between the true and false of Zhang Xu, the Marquis of Yongding, and it is difficult to distinguish between Hu Hai, the Marquis of Chongshan. ”

Li Duan's footsteps stagnated slightly, and then returned to normal.

He looked at the continuous buildings and atmospheric scenery in the palace, and suddenly let out a hearty laugh.

"It's hard to tell the difference between loyalty and treachery, and this evaluation is interesting."

After the laughter stopped, Li Duan sighed meaningfully.

The two of them walked on the stone road leading to the Yuzao Pond in the southeast, and Lu Shen said calmly: "Zhang Xu's reaction is normal, after all, he is not like a minister who has just entered the court. Like him, a martial artist who has experienced ups and downs for a long time, the attitude of not liking things and not being sad is the attitude he should have, but the minister just can't see through his inner thoughts, like a fog. ”

"Go on."

"As for Chongshan Hou Hu Hai, this old man is too exposed, as if he wants to dig out a loyal heart for His Majesty to see, at first glance it is indeed moving, but after thinking about it, I feel that this is inevitably lost in the meaning of the axe. In the past, the minister listened to the stories in the history books told by the governor of Xiao, and people like Hu Hai were either brave and loyal people who had no city government, or they were great traitors who deceived the world. ”

"Then what kind of person do you think Hu Hai is?"

"The minister is not familiar with the past resume of this old marquis, so he does not dare to make a rash conclusion, and believes that His Majesty has his own judgment."

Li Duan couldn't help laughing again, shook his head and said, "You have been in Beijing for a while, and you have slowly learned the way of being an official that those people regard as a guideline. ”

The two gentlemen and ministers came to the Yuzao Pond, looking at the sparkling waves on the water, Lu Shen said leisurely: "Learn their methods to defeat them." ”

Li Duan propped his hands on the trunk, nodded and said, "This is reasonable, but I and you will have to accept it next." ”

Lu Shen understood the thoughts of the Son of Heaven, he just wanted to gather his authority and avoid the imperial court being controlled by those gate lord clans, which would lead to no one to use the successor monarch, but he did not think about killing the Jiangnan clan.

The stick has been struck, and the next thing is definitely to give some sweetness.

He pondered for a moment, turned to look at the Son of Heaven and said, "Your Majesty, in fact, the minister feels that this is not enough. ”

Li Duan was slightly stunned, slightly puzzled.

Lu Shen continued: "The minister knows His Majesty's concerns, and the minister also understands that he must treat those gate lord clans with both soft and hard measures, both beating and pulling, and cannot blindly force them into a desperate situation. But there is a premise for this, if the gate lord family wants to continue to stand in the court, they must hand over the military power to His Majesty, otherwise there will be hidden worries in the future. ”

Li Duan looked at this young and handsome face, and at this moment he suddenly felt a little resentful of God.

If he can be given another ten years, there are Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun in the frontier and a large group of brave and warlike tiger generals, and there are loyal and capable ministers like Xue Nanting and Lu Shen in the center, plus Li Daoyan can still maintain the overall situation, he has enough confidence to make Daqi prosperous and powerful, and it is not a dream to clean up the old mountains and rivers.

It's a pity......

He smiled a little bitterly, and then made a move that went far beyond the line between a monarch and a minister.

He raised his hand and patted Lu Shen's shoulder, and said gently: "It's not for this reason to stop for the time being, there are some things that you will understand in the future." Now that I have cleared the obstacles for you, all you need to do is to take a bold step and hold the camp firmly in your hands, and I will give you all the support. In the future, if the border army is in a crisis, these four Beijing armies will be your confidence to turn the situation on the battlefield. ”

Although the Son of Heaven didn't mention a word, Lu Shen faintly heard a little bit of support.

Li Duan turned his head to look at the clear sky in the north, his eyes were a little desolate, and he said slowly: "Lu Shen, I am afraid that I will not have the opportunity to return to the old capital in this life, and I will not have the opportunity to visit the ancestors and ancestors of the Li family again, this is my unfilial piety." One day in the future, if you can lead the army to the north again, you will go to the imperial mausoleum north of Heluo, kowtow to the ancestors for me, and ask them to forgive Li Duan, a bad descendant. ”

This is an expectation, but also a trust, and its deep meaning is self-evident.

Lu Shen didn't say a word and bowed to the Son of Heaven.

(End of chapter)