April 30, noon.

Xu Guangsheng led a young woman with plump muscles and weak bones, and a waist and sideburns to the Privy Council, under the different gazes of officials and officials, Xu Guangsheng not only did not have the slightest subtlety, but held his head high, swaggered through the courtyard, and took the initiative to greet his acquaintances in Xifu.

The woman is in the prime of her peach and plum years, her facial features are delicate and exquisite, and her peach cheeks are like finely carved porcelain dolls, without a trace of flaws. A goose yellow robe highlights the graceful figure vividly, swaggering in the Privy Council full of men, which is particularly eye-catching.

After a cup of tea, the two met Bai Jin, who had been waiting for a long time, outside the gate of the Sanjin courtyard. When Xu Guangsheng gave the salute, Bai Jin's eyes were "reluctant" on the woman, and he couldn't take his eyes off for a long time.

"Ahem, Lord Bai?"

Xu Guangsheng called again and again, Bai Jincai suddenly woke up, his eyes were straight, and he hurriedly perfunctory: "That...... Can Lord Xu prepare the 'line' for sending relatives?"

"Lord Bai rest assured, he has already made preparations in Xiaxia, and he only waited for the Privy Deputy Envoy to sign and seal, and then went to the Praetorian Guard Camp to transfer people. ”

"Very good!" Bai Jin nodded absentmindedly, turned his hesitant gaze to the resigned woman, and asked, "Miss Lan Qi, why are you here?" Lord Qian didn't call you......

"I brought her here. Xu Guangsheng explained, "As the saying goes, 'it's better to see than to hear', Master Qian has never met Lan Qi, and I don't know that she is empathetic and outstanding, so I made a special trip to meet her to avoid a misunderstanding of 'Wang Zhaojun'." ”

"Wang Zhaojun?" Bai Jin was stunned for a moment, then his face sank, and he said unhappily, "What does Lord Xu mean by this? You compare Miss Lanqi to Wang Zhaojun, do you imply that Bai is Mao Yanshou, who has broken and ruined the law?"

"Don't dare! I lost my mouth at the next moment, I don't dare to have such a crooked thought, I hope Lord Bai will be angry!"

In fact, in terms of official rank alone, Xu Guangsheng, who is the commander of the Quanzhou battalion, and Bai Jin, the servant of the Privy Council, are considered to be at the same level. In terms of real power, Xu Guangsheng holds the power of life and death of a battalion of soldiers and horses. On the other hand, Bai Jin's subordinates can no longer deploy a single soldier except for the entourage guards, and the middle servant is also a civil errand in the Privy Council. Compared with the two, Bai Jin is far inferior to Xu Guangsheng.

Even so, Xu Guangsheng still behaved submissively in front of Bai Jin, respectful, and even willing to "be a head shorter than him", because one of them was a Beijing official and the other was a local official.

As the saying goes, "the prime minister's door is a seven-grade official", Bai Jin goes in and out of the Privy Council all day long, serving all the first- and second-grade court officials, and his net worth and status are rising, as a local general, Xu Guangsheng naturally has to be careful when he sees him. Because once offended, Bai Jin will stir up a few words in the ears of the privy envoy and the privy deputy envoy in the future, which is likely to affect the fate of Xu Guangsheng's life.

Having said that, like all magistrates, Xu Guangsheng was only respectful to Bai Jin on the surface, but in fact he was very disdainful in his heart.

Because of this, he just made a metaphor like "Wang Zhaojun and Mao Yanshou". As for "losing his mouth for a while", it was a perfunctory statement at all, Xu Guangsheng and Bai Jin tacitly agreed, they just didn't want to pierce this layer of window paper.

"Lord Xu, I'm afraid it's inappropriate for you to take a woman into the Privy Council, right?" Bai Jin looked embarrassed, so he looked embarrassed.

"Oops! Xu Guangsheng patted his head and was annoyed, "But everyone has already arrived, if you send her back now, I'm afraid it will cause unnecessary criticism." As...... Lord Bai will make it convenient for Miss Lan Qi to meet Master Qian?"

After saying that, Xu Guangsheng stretched out his hands shrunk in his sleeves in front of Bai Jin, pretending to clench his fists. Bai Jin hesitated for a moment, then stretched out his hand to help, and took advantage of the situation to insert a stack of silver tickets in Xu Guangsheng's sleeve into his sleeve.

"Only this once!" Bai Jinmian was embarrassed, "but in case Lord Qian is to blame......"

"Lord Bai rest assured, all the consequences will be borne by you, and it will not affect Lord Bai. ”

"Okay, both of you, please!"

Bai Jin was reassured and led Xu Guangsheng and Lan Qi to walk quickly towards the inner courtyard.

Turning around the pavilion and corridor, the winding path leads to the secluded path, and the three of them came to Lord Qian's study.

"The last general, Xu Guangsheng, knock to see Lord Qian!"

As soon as he stepped into the threshold, Xu Guangsheng immediately knelt on the ground and bowed to Lord Qian, who was sitting behind the bookcase and closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

"Excuse me!"

Lord Qian's lazy voice sounded quietly, and at the same time, a pair of slightly cloudy old eyes slowly opened.

"En?" seemed to notice Lan Qi beside Xu Guangsheng, Lord Qian couldn't help frowning and asked, "Who is the woman?"

"Returning to my lordship, this woman is the Lanqi girl of Quanzhou Sushui Pavilion, and she has admired her for a long time......"

"Bastard!" Before Xu Guangsheng finished speaking, Lord Qian's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he said angrily, "This official has already warned you, could it be that you are treating you as a deaf ear?"

After saying that, Master Qian cast his gloomy gaze on Bai Jin, who was full of embarrassment, and asked, "But you made the decision on your own and let Xu Guangsheng bring people into the Privy Council?"

"It's not!" Bai Jin hurriedly waved his hand, "General Xu has the beauty of an adult, and he wants to help Miss Lan Qi achieve her long-cherished wish, so he ......"

"Xu Guangsheng, you are so bold!" Lord Qian reprimanded, "What kind of place do you think this place is? Lin'an is not Quanzhou, and the Privy Council is not your private residence, so it's just that you are acting recklessly in your own territory, and now you dare to come here to continue your bad habits, what a bastard!"

"My lord's anger!" Xu Guangsheng's frightened face turned pale, and he kowtowed again and again to apologize, "It's the last general who is confused for a while! It's the last general who is self-righteous! It's the last general who doesn't understand the rules......"

"Okay!" Lord Qian waved his hand rather impatiently, "Thinking of your first offense, this official will be lightly punished." Bai Jin wrote down and fined Xu Guangsheng for one year, and withheld the March salary of the Quanzhou camp to set an example!"

"Obey!" Bai Jin gave his hand to the order, and secretly smacked his tongue in his heart.

"Thank you, ...... you."

Xu Guangsheng wanted to argue, but when he looked up and saw Lord Qian's swords-like gloomy eyes, his frightened body trembled, and he no longer dared to quibble.

"Bai Jin, you take this girl out. Master Qian instructed, "This official must agree with General Xu on the matter of the post." ”

"Yes!"

With a promise, Bai Jin dragged Lan Qi, who had already been frightened, out of the study quickly.

"Adult ......"

"Xu Guangsheng, don't think that this official doesn't know what crooked thoughts you are doing?" Master Qian got up slowly, walked in front of Xu Guangsheng, who didn't even dare to breathe, and said in a deep voice, "Who was your former Shangguan? What kind of character is it? This official doesn't know, and he doesn't want to know." But I can tell you plainly today that everyone in the Privy Council must be impartial, and that those who are opportunistic will not end well. ”

"Remember!"

"Okay, stand up!" Lord Qian looked straight, and said, "Have you gone outside the city to meet the Mongolian general?"

"See. Xu Guangsheng responded, "This person's name is Sui Zuo, and he is the general of the Mongolian army in Xijingfu, with 50,000 elite soldiers under his command. The last general sent someone to check his details, Sui Zuo was removed from the position of general of Xijing last year for committing a mistake, and now he is only temporary. ”

"This time, Sui Zuo brought eight hundred iron horses, and you also saw it?"

"See. ”

"How do you feel?" Lord Qian asked in a wordy manner, "How are his soldiers and horses better than those of your Quanzhou battalion?"

"This ......" Xu Guangsheng was stunned, and he didn't know how to answer for a while.

"It doesn't hurt to be outspoken. ”

"The last general's Quanzhou battalion...... Not as good as Sui Zuo's iron horse. Xu Guangsheng replied reluctantly, "Whether it is military discipline, morale, weapons, or drills...... are far from them. As for combat power...... With the same number of troops, it is probably not the opponent of the Mongolian iron cavalry. ”

"This is natural, Mongolia dominates the world by relying on iron horses, and it is inferior to meet the enemy's strengths with its own shortcomings. Lord Qian reassured, "If you have twice as many soldiers and horses as them, can you fight?"

"This ...... I'm afraid not. Xu Guangsheng said embarrassedly, "Even if the number of people is doubled, there is still a lot ......of difference in war horses and weapons."

"What if the horses are strong and well-equipped?" asked Lord Qian reluctantly, "The privy envoy has high hopes for you, saying that you are a rare talent among the generals of today's army, especially with unique vision and tactics. If you can get rid of the problems of flattery and greed for merit, devote yourself to studying military books, and train well, maybe one day you can rebuild the glory of the Yang and Yue armies of the past. Therefore, this official wants to hear the truth from your mouth that is difficult to hear, and compare how much difference is between the military strength of our Great Song Dynasty and that of the Mongol iron cavalry? ”

"Yes!" Xu Guangsheng pondered, "If there are twice as many enemies, horses and blades are the same, with the current combat strength of my Quanzhou battalion, the chances of winning a frontal battle are probably ...... Thirty percent, and it was a pyrrhic victory. ”

"Thirty percent, or a miserable victory?" said Master Qian in surprise, "If I want a ten percent chance of winning, then ......"

"With the combat strength of the Quanzhou battalion alone, there are at least four times or more soldiers and horses in ten percent of the chances of victory. ”

"You mean, if we encounter Sui Zuo's 50,000 elite soldiers on the battlefield, we will need at least 200,000 soldiers and horses to wipe them out?" Lord Qian muttered to himself with a sad face, "and it is under the same situation as the equipment......"

"With all due respect, 3,000 against 800 and 200,000 against 50,000 are completely different things, and they can't be compared at all. If the tactics are wrong, don't say 200,000...... Even 400,000 could be wiped out by 50,000 iron horsemen. Xu Guangsheng said helplessly, "Thousands of people can fight head-on, but tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops ...... The chances of a reckless head-on fight are slim to none......"

"Understood!" Lord Qian interrupted, "In this way, it is really wise to exchange 'harmony' for several years of recuperation in the Great Song Dynasty, and I hope that the princess can hold out for us until the day when the army is strong." ”

"yes!"

"When you go to see off your relatives, your first task is to protect the princess's integrity, especially to beware of the 'Great Song and His Envoy'. Master Qian reminded, "Regarding the origin of this person and the princess, you must have heard of it, and you must know it yourself." ”

"The last general understands that I must keep an eye on Liu Xunyi and not let him have the slightest opportunity. ”

"That's very good. Master Qian said again, "You have to listen to Sui Zuo's arrangements more on this trip, don't compete with him in case of trouble, and remember that peace is precious." But...... There is no need to grovel, so as not to damage the dignity of the Great Song Dynasty and the majesty of the emperor. ”

"The last general commands!"

"Bring the post, the official will sign and seal for you, and then go to Sanya to send three hundred elites to the Mongolian camp outside the city, and join the Sui Zuobing to set off together early tomorrow morning. Lord Qian took the post handed over by Xu Guangsheng, and instructed in an orderly manner, "Tomorrow, Feng Tianba will lead fifty guards to protect the princess out of the city, and Liu Xunyi and Ding Qinghong will also be together." This time to send relatives, although Liu Xunyi is the nominal 'peace envoy', in fact, you are the one who represents the Xifu to lead the overall situation, so you must not be turned against him as a guest. If necessary, you can borrow Ding Qinghong's hand to restrain him, Ding Gonggong is the eyeliner that the emperor placed next to Liu Xunyi, you and him are in the same boat, so you can join forces. ”

"Remember!"

"This trip is the most important secret, and the details of the send-off are all in it, so you must keep it carefully and do not divulge it before you arrive in Helin. ”

"Don't worry, sir!"

Xu Guangsheng gave up his hand to receive the order with righteous words, and then stepped forward slowly, carefully took the post with both hands, and slowly withdrew from the study.

......